1. The Active Space
This massive studio and gallery complex at the sleepy corner of Johnson and Stewart avenues run by artist and director Ashley Zelinskie and landlord David Welner launched in February and has been growing ever since. They've added another floor of studios, with a third in the works, and landed some impressive artists as tenants. Accordingly, their exhibition program is always strong. "Today we have 27 studios and are still expanding," Zelinskie told us in November. "We are starting renovations on our ground floor which will included even more artist studios and a permanent gallery."
2. Space for Art and Industry
When the Brooklyn Navy Yard's new historic museum at Building 92 opened on November 10 we were happy to discover, in the former commandant's house's new wing, a dedicated and independently curated contemporary art venue. Not only that, but the Space for Art and Industry is also very large, and director Marc Ganzglass has a five-year lease on it. His programming, befitting a space located at a nexus of artistic and sustainable industrial activity, will highlight projects that marry art, science, design and environmentalism—like the inaugural exhibition, Klaus Schafler's Climate Manipulation Station.
3. Interstate Projects
Interstate Projects launched at 56 Bogart Street back in March, long before Williamsburg non-profits Momenta Art and Nurture Art picked up and moved in down the hall. So far Interstate's programming has been very robust, alternating group shows and solo exhibitions, embracing painting, photography, but also video and conceptual art. They open their next show on January 20, a two-person exhibition by sculptor Kevin Lips and painter Mason Saltarrelli.
4. Airplane
A few months back Jason Andrew, founder of one of Bushwick's most beloved apartment galleries, Norte Maar, told us, "I love basement galleries, they're the new apartment galleries." After Famous Accountants and Small Black Door, Airplane is the third basement gallery in the Bushwick/Ridgewood area, making this a bonafide trend. Airplane took off in late October—launched by artists Lars Kremer, Liz Atzberger and Kevin Curran—with a strong show including works by Rico Gatson, Kate Gilmore, Adam Parker Smith, Austin Thomas and more. We look forward to Airplane's next flight.
5. Bushwick Gallery
Now, while this is technically an online gallery, it will not only launch every new exhibition with an actual brick-and-mortar hanging in Bushwick, but it's very much tied to its namesake neighborhood. Its founder and director, Katarina Hybenova, also runs the neighborhood blog BushwickDaily, and all the artists—like the four participating in its first exhibition, Nate Anspaugh, Julie Torres, Eric Trosko and Over Under—are fixtures of the local scene. The affordable prices ($20 and up for prints!) are also totally Bushwick.
(Photos courtesy The Active Space, Space for Art and Industry, Interstate Projects, Airplane, Bushwick Gallery)