Contributed by Sharon Butler / In August, it seems as though many gallerists and artists are anywhere but NYC. But there are stalwart exceptions like Spencer Brownstone (LES) , with a clutch of artists in “second material” through August 14, and Susan Inglett (Chelsea), showing Ryan Wallace until early September. “Between the Lines,” featuring Johanna Calle, Jonathan Callan, Steven McClure, Glenda León, Ivan Lam, Sean Micka, Nobuhira Narumi, Ed Ruscha, Analia Saban, and Adam Winner, opened last week at Bienvenu Steinberg & C (Tribeca). At Frisson (LES), Parker Conrad and Guy Grabowsky consider how images are being produced and reproduced these days. We can always count on wonderful small-scale abstraction at 57W57 Arts (5th at 42nd Street), probably the best office-gallery in the city. Have you ever been to Ptolemy in Glendale, a residential village in Queens? Maybe now is the time to go. Their big summer group show “Paragon Park Observatory” is on view through August 16. In DUMBO, Stephen Deffet has a solo at Stump Gallery through August 16. Head out to 56 Bogart in Bushwick for Incubator Studio Gallery’s “Literature of the Land.” Let’s agree not to talk about any gallery closings until September and just salute the last batch of group shows on view in the dog days of summer!

Contributed by Sharon Butler / In “New York Real Estate and the Ruin of American Art,” an article that recently appeared in the winter issue of October, artist Josh Kline points out that art has long been curated, funded, and institutionalized by the very galleries and collectors who profit from it and the schools that train its participants, without necessarily serving the majority of artists. Most NYC artists are familiar with the story Josh is telling, as many have weathered previous market downturns. Some can remember the 1989 stock market crash, the devastation of 9/11, and the 2008 recession. Now, after what has become a years-long rout, even A-listers like Josh feel compelled to rethink the cost of maintaining a NYC studio as the market for their work has changed.