Rounding up the best gallery exhibitions across the United States each month, Galerie journeyed from New York to Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco to discover the top solo shows for April. From emerging painter Dustin Emory’s double show of voyeuristic visual narratives at Fredericks & Freiser and Margot Samel in New York to Sophie Calle’s look back at projects that failed at Fraenkel in San Francisco, these are the not-to-be-missed shows this month.
Dustin Emory at Fredericks & Freiser and Margot Samel| New York
A self-taught artist who began sketching and creating watercolors at age 17 while recovering from a football injury, Dustin Emory produces dreamlike, grayscale images of figures in confined and self-reflective situations. Navigating the challenges of an incarcerated father and an addicted brother, the Atlanta-based painter draws on personal experiences to create voyeuristic and surveilled narratives of isolated characters in allegorical settings. Employing oil, acrylic, and pumice, Emory interacts with the canvas and his personal life through a haunting style of realism that is sharply lit and uniquely cropped to enhance the unfolding dramas. A play on words in the title “Mourning Sun” for his double solo show at Chelsea’s Fredericks & Freiser and Tribeca’s Margot Samel opens an empathetic portal for his audience while expressing hope in the transformative power of art.