By Karen and Erica

We live in New York City. One of the best things about New York is that art is everywhere—in museums, of course, but also in galleries, and on the street, and in municipal buildings like the new Moynihan Station. Even during this last year, we have been able to see some fine shows, and two splendid galleries in New York have opened gorgeous new spaces.

Here are seven artists showing some of the best things we have seen.

Just before lockdown—a blast from the past. When we were just starting out, Agnes Denes planted a wheat field on a now long-gone Hudson River landfill “beach” where we would sometimes sun ourselves. These amber waves were delightfully whimsical in this urban context. We loved Wheatfield but we lost track of Denes. She kept working, and now, at 88, has had her first retrospective, at The Shed. We were particularly enchanted by her giant glass pyramids, full of light, massive but fragile. And entranced by The Shed—a beautiful space and an engineering marvel.

South American art is having a moment. Just before lockdown, we saw a wonderful show at MoMa featuring South American artists of whom we were largely ignorant. Then Nara Roessler, a gallery based in Brazil, moved from its small city outpost to a beautiful new space in Chelsea, where it has already had several exhilarating shows. We hope to arrange an exclusive tour when the world opens up. We are especially fond of Carlito Carvalhosa’s neon colors on textured mirrored surfaces.

At Pace, which also moved recently to a stunning new space in Chelsea—another place that we might tour—we saw a show by Tara Donovan. We had never heard of her, but we should have—especially as she works in Brooklyn. Amazing, huge, creations composed of small things, like glass straws. Full of light. Spectacular.

As may be obvious, we love art that capitalizes on light. Josiah McElheny—also working in Brooklyn—does just that, creating striking mirrored works reflecting endless glass vessels. The pieces are framed like paintings but are very sculptural, built into cuts in walls. His show at James Cohan in Chinatown is mesmerizing. Rush to see it.

Last but not least was a brilliant show at Deitch—banners by Judy Chicago. The banners were made of sumptuous materials that looked like the Renaissance. But they did not sound like the Renaissance, as they addressed the key question: What if women ruled the world? We hope to have the answer soon.

And of course other places do have art. Karen took a quick jaunt to San Diego, to see inlaws. Quint is a favorite gallery. A work by Alfredo Jaar was arresting—videos of immigrants’ feet walking in water, and our feet reflected, walking with them. Quint also shows Gisela Colon, part of the Light and Space movement, one of our favorites. Colon uses industrial materials to make “pods”, emanating light, that change color with the sky.

Art always revives us, and in the last year was especially important, reminding us that the world was still full of light and color and art and artists.