Art on Long Island: 4 'must-see' exhibits

This spring, Long Island art lovers won’t have to travel far to take in exhibitions of works by Salvador Dalí, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Françoise Gilot or renowned Islip guitar maker John Monteleone.

These notables are among the artists featured in current or upcoming local shows, where you can avoid navigating Manhattan’s crowded galleries to have “an intimate experience with the art,” said Sasha Giordano of the Hofstra University Museum of Art.

Here are four must-sees:

Les Visionnaires in the Modernist Spirit

Hofstra University Museum of Art Emily Lowe Gallery, Hempstead, through July 26

This one-room exhibition offers 70 works by a who’s who of the 20th century French avant-garde, including Dalí, Joan Miró and Marc Chagall.

The array of prints, pottery, film, first-edition books and other media also includes four works by Gilot, Pablo Picasso’s longtime partner and mother of two of his children, as well as an accomplished artist in her own right.

“In the past few years there’s been a lot of interest generating around” Gilot, who died in 2023 in Manhattan at age 101, Giordano said. “She was an independent spirit, and her work really captures that.”

The gallery is at 112 Hofstra University in Hempstead. For more information: bit.ly/43KeI3H

The Rains Are Changing Fast

The Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, through Sept. 1

New acquisitions combine with selections from the museum’s 2,300-piece permanent collection to illustrate a timely theme: environmental and cultural change. In addition to luminaries like Georgia O'Keeffe and Judy Chicago, chief curator Karli Wurzelbacher said, “We also spotlight how important artists such as Courtney M. Leonard have been inspired by Long Island’s history and environment.”

Featured in the exhibition is an 8-foot-long map of Long Island that Leonard, of the Shinnecock Nation, made using thousands of ceramic thumbprints that look like shells.

The museum is at 2 Prime Ave. in Huntington. For more: heckscher.org

Urban Art Evolution

Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, through July 7

Basquiat, the Brooklyn-born 1980s art star, and his pop art contemporary Keith Haring, are among the nearly 40 featured artists. These creators “pushed the boundaries of what was considered ‘art’ with a primary focus on street/graffiti art,” said curator and art collector Christopher Pusey, of Port Washington.

The museum is at 1 Museum Dr., Roslyn Harbor. For more: nassaumuseum.org

Musical Masterworks: John Monteleone’s Guitars and Other Instruments

The Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages, Stony Brook, opens May 23

Rock star Eric Clapton is among the famous musicians playing archtop guitars made by Monteleone, whose work has been exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met and private collectors are lending instruments that Monteleone handcrafted in his Islip workshop, said the museum’s co-executive director, Joshua Ruff.

Monteleone's "guitars are incredible works of art,” Ruff said. “He’s somebody from our Long Island backyard that’s touched the world.”

The museum is at 1200 Rte. 25A in Stony Brook. For more: longislandmuseum.org