Best of 2018: Hyperallergic's Top 15 Brooklyn Art Shows

Youngho Lee, Installation view of Observe Yourself Being Watched, curated by Grace Noh of MiA Collective Art, at John Doe Gallery

“This year, there were a number of excellent exhibitions throughout Brooklyn, from larger ones at the Brooklyn Museum, to smaller Bushwick shows at galleries like Tiger Strikes Asteroid. And, on a sadder note, some galleries, like SIGNAL in Williamsburg, closed down, but not before parting ways through a closing party that makes it on our list of honorable mentions. Here are our favorite Brooklyn shows of 2018, brought to you by the writers and editors of Hyperallergic.

12. Observe Yourself Being Watched at John Doe Gallery

November 6–22

In early November, Berlin-based artist Youngho Lee teamed up with indie curator Grace Noh (of Christie’s and MiA Collective Art) for a Kubrick-meets-Ai Weiwei multimedia exhibition at the aptly named John Doe Gallery in Brooklyn. Observe Yourself Being Watched investigated — through video, photography, and installation — exactly who or what we want to become: more efficient cogs and consumers; safer but continuously data-farmed and eerily stalked by personalized digital ads in a Godless future, or liberated post-singularity gods ourselves. Works from the show recently traveled to China for the Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival, exhibiting in the Crossover Photography section. —Kurt McVey”