Art moves people, challenges them, sparks creativity, and so much more. And we’re lucky enough to have some of the best art exhibits in the world, right here in NYC!
That’s why we’ve scoured museum websites to pull together all of the most exciting exhibits that are currently showing or coming soon. A few go beyond traditional art museums, but it’s all about blurring the lines, right?
Check out these 20 wonderful exhibits happening in NYC right now:
1. The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism
Open through July 28, 2024
The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism is open now, right at the end of Black History Month, and it pays homage to the influential era of 1920s-40s NYC. The 160 works of paintings, sculptures, photography, film, and ephemera explores the everyday modern life of bustling Harlem and its Black society during the Harlem Renaissance and the Great Migration. Learn more about the exhibit here.
Prices: Museum admission
Where: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1000 5th Ave)
2. Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys
Open through July 7, 2024
Take in a gallery of artwork straight out of the collection of musical and cultural icons Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys. Both born and raised right here in NYC, they’ve curated a collection of world-class holdings, including art from Gordon Parks, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lorna Simpson, and many more. The exhibit’s theme is to champion the “artists supporting artists” mentality…and to help spotlight Black diasporic creators. Learn more about Giants here!
Prices: Museum admission ($17-$26)
Where: Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn)
3. Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature
Open through June 9, 2024
The works of children’s illustrator and author Beatrix Potter is currently on display at The Morgan Library & Museum. Drawn to Nature will bring you on a trip down memory lane, as you can get up close and personal with her iconic characters like Peter Rabbit, Mr. Jeremy Fisher, and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle. It’s a beautiful look into the imaginative and scientific mind of a legendary author who created some of the world’s most iconic stories.
Prices: $25 (free on Fridays with reserved tickets)
Where: 225 Madison Ave
4. Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than The Real Thing
Open through August 11, 2024
The 81st installment of the renowned Whitney Biennial is now open, and features 71 visionary artists filling up the gallery to tell stories, spark discussion, and comment on issues using media and art. This year’s iteration focuses on finding “the real” in the age of AI, as well as exploring the fluidity of identity and form. Learn more about the exhibit and see all 71 artists in it here.
Price: $30
Where: 99 Gansevoort St
5. Daniel Arsham: Phases
Open through June 14, 2024
Fotografiska has welcomed New York based artist Daniel Arsham with his first exhibition focused on his photography. The artist is most well known from his black and white aesthetic sculptures and brand collaborations (like Tiffany & Co and Hot Wheels), bur this photography collection features shots from Arsham’s travel and life, beautifully contrasting the natural world with urban jungles…two huge inspirations for his others works.
Price: $20
Where: 281 Park Ave S
6. The Secret World of Elephants
Open now
Explore 60 million years of elephant history at this upcoming exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History! The Secret World of Elephants is set to include life-size models, fossils, and casts of these beloved creatures to illustrate elephants’ size, as well as videos and interactive exhibits to introduce visitors to these massive mammals’ incredible abilities!
Price: $28
🐘 Learn more about The Secret World of Elephants here!
Where: American Museum of Natural History (200 Central Park Ave)
7. Four Seasons of Central Park
Open through June 16, 2024
Four Seasons of Central Park is a brand new four work exhibition at The Museum of the City of New York showing off NYC’s favorite park. New York native and watercolor painter Frederick Brosen is behind the collection, which features 4 gorgeous iterations of Central Park during each season of the year. Visitors are able to walk through a year’s worth of bliss as these intimate portraits display summer, fall, winter, and spring. Learn more about Four Seasons of Central Park here.
Prices: $20
Where: 1220 5th Ave
8. Anh Duong: The Incoherences of a Gentlewoman
Open through May 31, 2024
French-American artist Anh Duong is the center of this exhibit, which features over 20 works diving into the complexities of modern femininity. Through a variety of portraits and paintings, Duong shines an introspective light on contemporary women and their narratives of navigating societal expectations and their own personal worth. Through her fleshy and theatrical portraits, she invites art consumers to challenge self-incoherences and appreciate the beauty of the human (woman) experience. Learn more about the exhibit here.
Prices: Free
Where: Galerie Gmurzynska (43 E 78th St)
9. Grace Wales Bonner—Spirit Movers
Open through April 7, 2024
As a part of MoMA’s celebrated Artist’s Choice series, London-based designer Grace Wales Bonner brings an exhibit of more than 50 works “exploring sound, movement, performance, and style in the African diaspora and beyond.” From sculptures to drawings, Bonner aims to change the way we see style…through Black expression, devotion, and spirituality.
Price: Museum admission
Where: Museum of Modern Art (11 W 53rd St)
10. The Ways of Langston Hughes
Open through July 8, 2024
This brand new exhibit at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture explores the relationship between renowned poet Langston Hughes and famous photojournalist Griffith J. Davis. It offers a photographic look at Hughes, and how he championed his role of intimately fostering Black artists, students and creatives during his life. Learn more about the exhibit here.
Prices: Free
Where: The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Malcolm X Blvd)
11. Paa Joe—Celestial City
Open through April 27, 2024
Internationally acclaimed Ghanaian artist, Paa Joe has reimagined iconic NYC symbols in his latest sculpture exhibit “Celestial City.” With his Ghanaian beliefs on life and death as inspiration, he’s created urban sculptures that represent both…like two human-scale coffins, one in the shape of a Heinz ketchup bottle and a yellow taxi cab (death) and a replica of the Guggenheim (life), plus much more. Learn more about the exhibit here.
Prices: Free
Where: 120 Walker Street, 6R
12. Chagall, Paris – New York
Open through April 6, 2024
In this latest immersive experience at Hall des Lumières, Chagall, Paris will be devoted to the prolific and unclassifiable painter, Marc Chagall. In collaboration with Culturespaces, France’s leading private manager of museums and cultural heritage, you can expect lights and artworks projected onto the walls and and floors…showcasing works from the entirety of his career. It’s colorful, fascinating, and mesmerizing. Learn more Chagall, Paris here.
Prices: $18-$30
Where: Hall des Lumières (49 Chambers St)
13. Destination Cosmos
Open through April 7, 2024
An out-of-this-world exhibit has returned to NYC’s Hall des Lumières called Destination Cosmos: The Immersive Space Experience! In partnership with NASA, the immersive experience features 13 different celestial sequences that take you on a journey from Cape Canaveral to the universe’s ends. You’ll be able to see all sorts of stars, planets, nebulae, and supernovae along the way, and even get to check out some super exclusive NASA images! This voyage through time and space is an absolute must and it’s here through early April!
Price: $25
Read more about Destination Cosmos here.
Where: 49 Chambers St
14. Women’s Work
Open through July 7, 2024
What is “women’s work” anyway? In this new exhibition consisting of about 45 objects, it demonstrates how “women’s work” (historical trends encouraging women to take certain jobs) defies categorization. Items like medical kits and military uniforms are on display, proving just how essential women’s labor efforts have been to the backbone of American society. While celebrating the strides society has made in equality over the years, the exhibit simultaneously shines light on inequalities that still persist today. Learn more here.
Price: $13-$24
Where: New-York Historical Society (170 Central Park West)
15. This is New York: 100 Year of the City in Art and Pop Culture
Open through July 21, 2024
To celebrate 100 years of the Museum of the City of New York, they’re showcasing a brand new exhibit that explore ours beloved city across all art forms. Through both famous and lesser-known depictions of New York in film and television, visual and performing arts, music, poetry and literature, and even fashion, the exhibit showcases the magic of NYC and what makes it so special. We’re talking everything from an interactive installation of songs inspired by each borough to an immersive 16-screen experience drawn from hundreds of movies about the city made over the past century. It’s the ultimate New York homage.
Prices: $20
Read more about the exhibit here!
Where: Museum of the City of New York (1220 5th Ave)
16. Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility
Open through April 7, 2024
Occupying the Guggenheim Museum’s iconic rotunda, Going Dark presents more than 100 works by a group of 28 artists, the majority of whom are Black and more than half of whom are women. It features works art that are partially obscured or hidden figures, thus positioning them at the “edge of visibility.” In this context, the exhibit’s multi-floors of art are meant to explore a key tension in contemporary society: the desire to be seen and the desire to be hidden from sight.
Prices: Museum admission ($30)
Where: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1071 5th Ave)
17. INTER_, SoHo
Open now
Take a journey of self-discovery at this groundbreaking and interactive art experience in SoHo. Consisting of a multi-sensory environment where your presence becomes part of the art, the mind-bending installations and digital creations here invite you to explore mind, body, and reality. There’s also an INTER_planetary section of the exhibit that explores Earth’s elements like ether, earth, water, air and fire. This storytelling experience that spans visual, spatial, audio, and experiential elements simply cannot be missed!
Prices: $33-45
Learn more about INTER_ here.
Where: 415 Broadway
18. Ghost Stories: A Mysterious, Macabre Interactive Tour
Open now
Happening on select weekends is a Ghost Stories tour, an interactive tour of all things frightful in the Metropolitan Museum of Art! Get ready to travel across time and cultures to see things like Flying Dutchmen and funerary masks, still life art and sculptures from Egypt, Europe, and beyond. Plus, you’ll even hear some ghoulish stories about the museum itself… Do you have what it takes to make it through the Ghost Stories tour?
Price: $47.50
🐫 Buy tickets to the Ghost Stories tour here!
Where: The Met (1000 5th Avenue)
19. The FRIENDS™ Experience
Open now
Recreating a TV set is one of the most immersive and artistic experiences you can get, especially if it’s for a classic 90s sitcom. At the FRIENDS™ Experience, it’s your turn to fantasize about being among Monica, Rachel, Chandler, and the whole crew. In this experience, every detail is recreated to perfection and you’re even able to view some of the original props from the show! This revamped and iconic TV set is the perfect place for a FRIENDS fanatic.
🛋️ Buy tickets to the FRIENDS™ Experience here!
Price: $41.50
Where: 130 E 23rd St
20. RiseNY
Open now
Are you ready to fall in love with New York City all over again? RiseNY is a 3 part art exhibit, museum, and ride that will take you through the history of the Big Apple. Starting with a short documentary by award-winning director Ric Burns about Times Square’s influence on the city, you’ll move into a variety of art exhibits about NYC’s pop culture and arts scene throughout history. Everything from the Notorious B.I.G‘s tracksuit to a Beatles drumhead is housed here. Finally, hop into a soaring immersive ride that will fly you over the iconic skyline. This breath-taking and surreal experience will surely leave you speechless!
Prices: $25-$43
🏙️ Purchase tickets to RISE NY here!
Where: 160 W 45th St