First Sun and Green Curtain, 2026
Shawn Huckins
K Contemporary
In this monthly roundup, we spotlight five stellar exhibitions at small and rising galleries.
Alejandro Javaloyas
“Un cuchillo que no corta”
Galeria Reus, Palma, Spain
Through Aug. 31
Tal vez los años luz son todos iguales, 2025
Alejandro Javaloyas
Galeria Reus
La pesanteur et la grâce, 2025
Alejandro Javaloyas
Galeria Reus
Spanish artist Alejandro Javaloyas presents new small and uncanny works based on his own recurring nightmares in this new exhibition, the title of which translates to “the knife that doesn’t cut.” For years, Javaloyas has diligently kept a record of his dreams in a notebook by his bedside. The artist takes these notes and works with artificial intelligence models to create visualizations of his scribblings.
Pulling from hundreds of variations, Javaloyas selects a handful of images, which he then reworks digitally. These pictures are then printed as giclée prints on cotton paper, which the artist then layers with wax-based colored pencil that creates a kind of glaze.
Picturing burning houses, crashed cars, and baby teeth, the works possess an ambiguous blur that gives the fleeting sensation of a dream. In one work, Tal vez los años luz son todos iguales (2025), a snail inches across the nape of the neck, to a surreal and visceral effect. The artist holds a master’s degree in film and the influence of filmmakers such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Chris Marker, and David Lynch is evident in his works’ atmospheric weight.
Shawn Huckins
“Slow Burn”
K Contemporary, Denver
Through Aug. 22
War Cloud and Floral Blue Curtain, 2026
Shawn Huckins
K Contemporary
Wildfire Sunrise Behind Floral Lace Curtain, 2026
Shawn Huckins
K Contemporary
Beyond the elegantly parted drapes, disaster awaits. Artist Shawn Huckins is known for his paintings which reimagine scenes from American art history, from the vast vistas painted by Albert Bierstadt (of the Hudson River School) to the portraits of John Singleton Copley. These works delve into American national mythology and how it is remembered and rewritten.
In his new show on view at Denver's K Contemporary, each painting is formatted like a window, with curtains painted parted to each side. While the curtains, which range from lace to a rich green satin, suggest well-appointed interiors, the world beyond the window is filled with war clouds and wildfires. These apocalyptic scenes are a new addition to Huckins’s precisely painted tableaux.
The artist works from a studio in New Hampshire, and the recent series was partly inspired by the vibrant but hazy sunrises in the area caused by ongoing Canadian wildfire smoke. The hyperreal curtains suggest a kind of psychological distance from the unfolding disasters. The artist highlights the environmental effects of war and greater climate change on such majestic landscapes.
Jordi Clotet Saló
“Primera pedra”
Alzueta Gallery, Barcelona
Through Sep. 2
Accident, 2026
Jordi Clotet Saló
Alzueta Gallery
Jeroglífic, 2026
Jordi Clotet Saló
Alzueta Gallery
In this show, Catalan artist Jordi Clotet Saló presents a new series of oil-on-linen paintings with simplified forms. Painted in a limited palette of oxidized earth tones, these works range from geometric, almost architectural patterns, such as repeating circles broken into quadrants, and childlike depictions of cars and houses.
The exhibition title “Primera pedra” translates as “first stone” and reflects his paradoxical feeling of always being at the beginning, starting from scratch. In Clotet’s case, this feeling is heightened when creating a new work, even as his imagery draws from a sense of nostalgia and memory. Clotet’s interest in origins factors into his material choices as well. The artist's pigments are extracted from a quarry in Zaragoza, Spain, and processed locally, giving these works a raw, natural feeling.
“Ripples of Light”
LA BIBI Gallery, online
Through Oct. 31
Mallorca Shutter, 2025
Paul Riedmüller
LA BIBI GALLERY
Butterfly Sword Warrior, 2024
Fatima de Juan
LA BIBI GALLERY
What does summer feel like? “Ripples of Light,” an online presentation from LA BIBI Gallery, puts a spin on the traditional summer group show. Rather than actual depictions of the season (think beach scenes and bikinis), here, you’ll find works that embrace the sensory intensity of the hottest months.
Across painting, sculpture, and mixed media, the works on view are marked by chromatic saturation, lush gesturalism, and a breezy, waterfront feel. Paul Riedmüller’s Mallorca Shutter (2025), is a trompe l’oeil painting of closed bright green shutters, with stark shadowing under the slots. The painting calls to mind a blazing hot day, when the only respite is blocking out the sunlight. Elsewhere, abstractions evoke the sensations of the season through intensity of color. In Srger’s acrylic, oil stick, and charcoal-on-wood composition BM_4 (2025), for example, a sweeping block of royal blue pigment dotted with bright white squiggles brings to mind a summer sky with crossing clouds.
“Summer Vibes – 2026”
Daguet-Bresson, Ramatuelle, France
Through Sept. 13
#2631, 2026
Morten Løbner Espersen
Daguet Bresson
Palengrotte, 2026
Superpoly
Daguet Bresson
Paris gallery Daguet-Bresson Gallery returns to the Saint-Tropez peninsula this summer with an exhibition at the Fondugues-Pradugues estate in Ramatuelle. The show, which brings together dozens of ceramic vessels, is full of whimsy and wonder, ranging from kaleidoscopic glazes to animalian tureens. Danish ceramist Morten Løbner Espersen's vases are a standout of the show, as the seemingly simple vessels are transformed by thick layers of glazes. Also delightful are the quirky ceramics of French artist duo Superpoly (Antoine Grulier and Thomas Defour), including functional stoneware plates adorned with big-eyed fish and startled crabs.
