Art enthusiasts looking to discover fresh talent and innovative works should venture beyond major institutions this December. Five exceptional exhibitions at smaller galleries across the globe are showcasing remarkable artists whose unique approaches to painting, sculpture, and mixed media deserve attention. From textured landscapes in Bologna to photorealistic still lifes in New York, these shows demonstrate the vibrant creativity flourishing in emerging art spaces.

At LABS Contemporary Art in Bologna, Italy, Marco Emmanuele's solo exhibition "Palmo Panorama" runs through January 10, 2026, featuring his distinctive spatula-painted works. The centerpiece, "ISO 250" (2025), spans five panels with sweeping abstract bands of blue and earth tones created using a mixture of glass and sand. The Rome-based artist, who studied engineering and architecture in Catania before turning to painting, places five aluminum sculptures in front of the work, each shaped after the profile of different 20th-century Italian poets. These sculptures are created by pressing laser-cut iron plates into sand to carve silhouettes, which are then cast in aluminum. Emmanuele's practice focuses on mapping identity onto physical materials, and his recent solo shows have been presented by Daniele Agostini Gallery in 2023 and Operativa arte contemporanea in 2021.

In Antwerp, German artist Anuk Rocha presents "A Place Beyond Her Eyes" at Nibelungen Gallery through January 24, 2026. Having studied at the National School of Decorative Arts in Paris and worked in fashion for Maison Martin Margiela and Croatian designer Damir Doma, Rocha brings her fashion background to her figurative paintings. She describes her works as "patchwork portraits" drawn from multiple memories rather than single source images, with clothing serving as the primary marker of identity. "Clothes are symbolic of what I'm trying to convey and often reappear in my work," Rocha explains. Her stoic figures wear bold attire, from the scarlet-toned outfit in "Red Velvet" (2024) to the blue floral dress in "Jasmina" (2025), with garments providing both narrative and titles for the works.

"The Beautyful Ones" at DADA Gallery in Lagos, running through February 1, 2026, inaugurates the gallery's new permanent location with a group exhibition named after part of Ghanaian writer Ayi Kwei Armah's 1968 novel about post-independence disillusionment. The show presents six Black artists' visions of a more hopeful future, including Nigerian artist Yagazie Emezi, British painter Sahara Longe, Brazilian artist Silvana Mendes, American painter Taylor Simmons, Brazilian painter Larissa de Souza, and Austrian Nigerian sculptor Cameron Ugbodu. Simmons, an Artsy Vanguard 2025 alum, paints Black men with loose, expressive brushwork and saturated tones in works like "FOUND PHOTO HANDSOME YOUNG BLACK MAN FASHION" (2023). Mendes creates digital collages such as "Iemanjá" (2023), overlaying photographic portraiture with symbolic gold motifs and sculptural forms that reference Afro-Brazilian spiritual iconography.

Carolin Kreutzer's debut solo exhibition "Unfolding" at Escat Gallery in Barcelona runs through January 3, 2026, showcasing her transition from corporate graphic design to minimalist, geometric paintings. The German artist, who lives near Stuttgart and completed a master's degree in media from the University of Portsmouth in 2006, explores how single planes can tilt, overlap, or rotate to create subtle spatial shifts. "Unfolding 3" (2025) shows a brown form folded in on itself, creating new interior edges, while diptychs like "Unfolding 5, 10" (2025) present the same shade of blue folded in different variations. "It's about finding balance and harmony while leaving room for individuality and freedom," Kreutzer explains on the gallery website.

Finally, Brad Nelson's "Bubble" at FroschCo in New York, running from December 4, 2025, to January 11, 2026, features 13 new photorealistic paintings alongside one sculpted brick. The American artist, who graduated with a master's in art from Boston's School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 2000, captures everyday subjects like pan-frying eggs, soap bubbles on kitchen counters, and flower stems in vases. "I'm interested in exploring how a daily ritual or rhythm can bring me things that are at times outside my sphere of control," Nelson has said. "Large Bubble" (2025), one of three paintings referencing the show's title, depicts a delicate soap bubble that could pop at any moment, evoking ephemerality and the transient nature of his chosen subjects.