The days are shorter, the weather colder, but the art exhibits currently on show in New York City are as exciting as ever. From Surrealist books to comics and 100-year-old dolls on display across Museum Mile and the boroughs, plenty of exhibits are widening the scope of what art can be in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and beyond. Whether you’re wandering through the Guggenheim’s main rotunda or traversing the quiet gallery spaces at contemporary Amant in East Williamsburg, read on for the best art exhibits to keep on your radar.
Read our complete New York City travel guide here, including our roundup of the best museums in New York City. This article has been updated with new information since its original publish date.
New Museum
New Museum’s first exhibit since reopening looked at where technology’s taken and is taking us, and its current ones hone in on a single person and place through time. Spanning two floors, Arthur Jafa: I Am Tony is the first solo exhibit of the American artist and cinematographer’s work through four decades. Most notably, his eight-minute videomontage Love is the Message, the Message is Death chronicles the tapestry of the Black experience across the 20th century—its grief, joys, and pain through sampled clips from music videos, newscasts, and sporting events. Head to the second floor for Bowery: Devil’s Mile, which courses through four centuries of the mythic lower Manhattan street’s history and many identities, from a pre-colonial Lenape footpath; to a fin de siècle strip of saloons and dance halls; to a gathering space for Beatniks, punk-, and post-rockers; to the museum’s very own place of residence. Though the so-called Skid Row of New York City has made way for a much tamer crowd, its many lives are displayed through 19th-century sideshow flyers, Jacob Riis’s seminal photographs of the working class, and more.
Arthur Jafa: I Am Tony runs through January 3, 2027. Bowery: Devil’s Mile runs through January 31, 2027.
