Follow Friday: Emerging Practices Edition

This week’s Follow Friday brings you five galleries on the cutting edge of contemporary art practices. These galleries represent artists who experiment with new technologies and art-making ideas and tend to put on shows that are exciting and unconventional.

Based in Zurich, this gallery was founded in 2011 and seeks to present contemporary artists both established and emerging in an unconventional atmosphere, removed from the traditional white cube setting. Architecture is key in Scheublein + Bak’s practice, and most of the gallery’s exhibitions take place in Sihlberg Castle, a traditional Swiss manor house built at the turn of the 20th century. The gallery also stages exhibitions elsewhere; shows have occurred in an old Swiss Alps cinema building as well as a Zurich shipyard. On view until August 30th is an exhibition of Edward Burtynsky’s project, “Water,” in which the photographer captured scenes in nine separate countries over 5 years to highlight themes of industry, agriculture, and geopolitics.

Founded in 2009, Miami’s Zadok Gallery boasts more than 12,000 square feet of exhibition space, which are used creatively in an effort to realize the gallery’s goal of presenting art with progressive methods of presentation and alternative curatorial approaches. Among Zadok’s artists are Gabriel Dawe, who creates large intermeshing sculptures using colored threads, the end result appearing futuristic and otherworldly, and Peter Sarkisian, who creates digital multimedia installations using image projection and 3D printing technology. 

Also established in 2009, this gallery moved from Brooklyn to the Lower East Side last year and aims to highlight artists with a penchant for technology and experimental practices. The gallery represents photographer Ole Brodersen, known for his time-lapse photography, and Kate Clark, who fashions bizarre fantastical sculptures of exotic animals with human faces and features. On view until August 26th is the exhibition, “Illusory Landscapes,” which includes the ethereal paintings of Leigh Tarentino and the cinematic snowy cabin photographs of Martina Lindqvist.

This Chelsea gallery focuses on conceptual contemporary art and takes an interdisciplinary approach to exhibitions, representing artists who work in a variety of different mediums and themes, its roster a solid balance between established and emerging artists. Highlights include Melanie Daniel, whose psychedelic expressionistic landscapes echo Daniel Richter, and Don Dixon, whose retro-futuristic city scenes draw heavily on science fiction and play with painting tropes. One of these paintings is featured in the gallery’s current exhibition, “About a Mountain,” on view until August 15th.

With an emphasis on garnering exposure for emerging artists, this gallery focuses on the mediums of painting, sculpture, and photography. Victori just made its New York debut after exhibiting internationally at fairs since 2012. The group exhibition, “From the Land of Everywhere,” premiered on July 30th and features many of the gallery’s represented artists. Among them are Léo Caillard, whose often tongue-in-cheek works comment on contemporary digital culture, and Clark Goolsby, who employs graphical painting techniques to give his paintings a ’90s-influenced retro feel.

—Charlie Ambler