In 2023, NOT REAL ART launched First Friday Exhibitions, a new series designed to inspire readers with the artwork and artists we love. Our first two years of in-house exhibitions introduced readers to 100s of contemporary artists that tap into the 21st-century zeitgeist.
Today, we’re proud to announce our 2025 exhibition season. Starting in January, a curated exhibition will appear on the NOT REAL ART homepage, accompanied by an exhibition guide from the curator. As the name suggests, a new show will open on the first Friday of every month. Scroll down to learn more about the 2025 exhibition schedule, then head over to our exhibitions page to see all our shows from 2024 and 2023.
January 3: Out of Body: New Narratives in Figurative Art
The human body will never cease to be a source of creative inspiration. The artists in our first exhibition of 2025 use figurative art as a springboard to share personal narratives, create visual metaphors, probe identity issues, and question the status quo at a time when bodily autonomy is under attack, and teachers can be fired for showing a slide of Michelangelo’s “David.”
February 7: Pantone 2025: Mocha Mousse
Peach fuzz. Viva Magenta. Very Peri. Since Pantone debuted Cerulean Blue as the First Color of the Year in 1999, the program has become a globally iconic cultural touchstone. For 2025, Pantone has selected “Mocha Mousse,” a warm brown hue reminiscent of chocolate, coffee, and “our desire for everyday pleasures.”
March 7: WNC Crafts
In celebration of National Craft Month, our March exhibition highlights craft artists from Western North Carolina. This exhibition is created in partnership with our Asheville-based sister organization, ArtsvilleUSA, and aims to support the artists in the region who experienced significant losses due to Hurricane Helene.
April 4: Ones to Watch
NOT REAL ART was founded on the idea that soft voices carry big messages. Our first spring show of 2025 showcases underrecognized artists who demonstrate significant potential across various mediums. While there is no universally accepted definition of an "emerging artist," NOT REAL ART interprets the term broadly to include any artist who identifies with it.
May 2: Creatures, Mythical to Mundane
From simulated cave paintings and a classic oil of Moby Dick to ceramic dog figurines and a shimmering 3D animation of a horse, our May exhibition focuses on creatures real and imagined. As spring revives the landscape and the sounds of crickets and birds fill the air, artists turn their attention to pterodactyls, fire-breathing dragons, swarms of insects, digitally rendered jellyfish, and pampered household pets.
June 6: Midwest Nice
It’s pop, not soda. But say “soda” within spitting distance of a Midwesterner, and they’re more likely to hand you a can of Coke than correct your dialect to the preferred “pop.” The corn-eating flatlanders of the Midwest are much too nice to say anything about their predilections for quirky slang, long goodbyes, and ranch dressing at every meal. Not just nice. Midwest Nice. Our June 2025 exhibition delves into Midwestern iconography and champions artists who live and work between New York and Chicago, the two Stateside cultural hubs where coverage, funding, and curiosity coalesce.
July 4: H20
During the peak of summer, water offers survival, refreshment, solace, and introspection. As we flock to the nearest pool or shoreline to escape the heat, our July exhibition presents a fluid stream of artwork centered on this essential element. Through video poems, traditional and AI-generated photographs, installation, painting, and drawing, this month’s artists tackle climate change, rising tides, racial inequities, and microplastic pollution, memorializing moments from summers past.
August 1: Every Emotion All at Once
Our August exhibition explores the complex relationship between digital technology and the human experience. As the digital world steadily supplants the real world as the center of our culture, the artists featured in Every Emotion All at Once pause to reflect on the warmth of genuine connection and the isolating effects of a digital-centric culture. Their work captures the cacophony of emotions that crop up when the world moves far too fast.
September 5: Left Behind
During Environmental Awareness Month, the artists in our September exhibition recycle and reuse discarded objects and household waste, transforming them into whimsical and incisive works of art. Scavenging used bullet casings, industrial mop heads, rusting tubas, strands of human hair, and an antique grandfather’s clock, they discover the hidden beauty in things lost and found, fashioning them into something vibrant and new.
October 3: Witch Hunt
The persecution of witches dates back to ancient times, peaking in the 15th to 17th centuries as European capitalism grew. Land enclosures displaced rural populations, creating a vulnerable peasant class. Knowledgeable women, particularly in herbal medicine, were targeted as their expertise threatened societal norms. Authorities sought to control women’s roles by condemning practices like contraception and abortion.
Today, the phrase "witch-hunt" serves as a metaphor for powerful individuals, particularly men, deflecting scrutiny. Historically, witch-hunts persecuted the less powerful, while now those in power claim victimhood, using the term as a shield against criticism. Our October show asks, “How did we get to this moral inversion?”
November 7: Surprise Holiday Show
Shh! It’s a surprise. But there will be prints. Probably.
December 5: Works on Paper
The history of paper-making begins in China around 105 AD—it wasn’t until 1803 that the French developed the first paper-making machine, a design that remains virtually unchanged today. Shortly after its invention, paper became a versatile artistic medium and a reliable foundation for ink, graphite, and even paint. The works featured in our last show of 2025 celebrate paper and papercraft as an ancient art form with endless possibilities centuries after their invention.
This feature has been edited for length and clarity. Featured graphic: David Schwartz.
