Brooklyn This Week: 5 Exhibitions Worth Seeing (Feb 26)

I spent the last few days gallery-hopping across Brooklyn and here's what's actually worth your time this week.

February is that weird moment when winter shows are in their final weeks and spring exhibitions are just opening. It means if you move fast, you can catch some really strong work before it closes, and you can discover new things that just opened. This is the sweet spot.

Must-See Right Now

Qiu Xiaofei: The Theater of Wither and Thrive — Hauser & Wirth (22nd Street)

This opened February 12, so it's fresh. Qiu Xiaofei is a Chinese painter working with oil and works on paper, and this is his first solo show with Hauser & Wirth.

What you'll see: Large-scale paintings with distorted perspective and dense, almost theatrical compositions. There's a massive red forest painting that greets you when you walk in — the colors are aggressive, the scale is commanding. The work references theater backdrops (his grandparents were theater directors in Beijing), so there's this flattened, slightly surreal quality to the space and figures.

Why it matters: Qiu's working with family photographs he discovered after his father's passing, and translating those intimate moments into these huge, complex paintings. It's personal work that reads as monumental. The distorted perspective makes you feel slightly off-balance, which is intentional.

Practical: Hauser & Wirth, 22 West 22nd Street, Chelsea. Open Tues–Sat, 10am–6pm. Free admission. Through April 18.

Who should go: Anyone interested in contemporary painting, particularly artists working with family history and memory. Also good if you like work that's visually striking without being obviously "meaningful."

Tenzin Phuntsog: The Last Dream at the End of the World — Microscope Gallery (Bushwick)

Microscope Gallery is one of those Brooklyn institutions that specializes in moving image, sound, digital, and performance work. Tenzin Phuntsog is showing here, and this is the kind of show that makes you realize how much innovative art is happening in Bushwick galleries that don't get written about enough.

What you'll see: This is film and video work. Phuntsog is exploring narrative, dream logic, and visual language in ways that feel genuinely experimental. The work is immersive — it's meant to be experienced as an environment, not just watched.

Why it matters: Microscope has been championing experimental moving image for over a decade. If you care about contemporary art that's pushing form, this is where it's happening.

Practical: Microscope Gallery, Bushwick. Open Wed–Sun, 1–6pm. Free admission. Through March 7.

Who should go: People who like experimental film and video. People who want to see art that's NOT in Chelsea or the LES. People who appreciate galleries that take risks.

The Museum Moves (Still Running, Worth Catching)

Christian Marclay: Doors — Brooklyn Museum

Marclay is a legend — he's been deconstructing sound and image for decades. Doors is a video installation that uses footage of doors from cinema history. It sounds simple. It's not.

What you'll see: A room filled with screens showing doors opening, closing, slamming, creaking. The sound is layered and disorienting. You're standing in a space where doors are both literal objects and metaphors — thresholds, barriers, possibilities.

Practical: Brooklyn Museum, Eastern Parkway. General admission $16 (free for members, students, kids under 12). Through April 12.

Oliver Jeffers: Life at Sea — Brooklyn Museum

Jeffers is a visual artist and author who's been exploring maritime themes, navigation, and travel. The work includes paintings, drawings, and objects. It's visually beautiful and conceptually rich.

Practical: Brooklyn Museum. Through April 26.

Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens — Brooklyn Museum

This is photography. Keïta was a Malian photographer (1923–2001) who created some of the most stunning studio portraits in African photography history. His work is formally brilliant — composition, lighting, the way he dressed his subjects. This is not to be missed if you care about photography as an art form.

Practical: Brooklyn Museum. Through May 17.

The Route

If you want to do a Brooklyn gallery afternoon:

1. Start at the Brooklyn Museum (Eastern Parkway) — Budget 2–3 hours. Seydou Keïta alone is worth that time.
2. Grab lunch in Park Slope (plenty of good spots around the museum).
3. Head to Bushwick (20-minute subway ride) and hit Microscope Gallery in the late afternoon. Bushwick has dozens of galleries clustered together — if you have time, gallery-hop the neighborhood.

If you want to catch the Hauser & Wirth opening energy, you're a bit late (it opened Feb 12), but the show runs through April 18 so there's plenty of time.

The Bottom Line

This is a strong moment for Brooklyn galleries and museums. The Seydou Keïta show alone justifies a museum visit — it's one of those exhibitions that reminds you why photography matters. Qiu Xiaofei is new and worth discovering. And Microscope Gallery represents the experimental spirit that makes Brooklyn's art scene actually interesting.

Go see something this week. Bring someone who says they "don't know about art." These shows will change their mind.