Art This Week in Culture

Here Are This Spring's 11 Must-See Museum Exhibitions in New York

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Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Part Two (Constructing), 1992. Image courtesy of the artist, Galerie Chantal Crousel, and Amant.

“On Education”
Where:
Amant
When: Through August 17
Why It’s Worth a Look: At the Brooklyn arts organization, 35 artists present work on the subject of education, compiling global perspectives to expose an infrastructure of surveillance, control, and underfunding. The show is particularly resonant in our current moment of infighting over the contours—and the mission—of an American education. 
Know Before You Go: Expect a sensory experience that shifts from video to sculptural installations to archival materials. Artists with work on view include Marc Kokopeli, Paul McCarthy, Gordon Parks, Laurie Simmons, and Sable Elyse Smith.

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Madalena Santos Reinbolt, Untitled, 1969–1976. Image courtesy of the American Folk Art Museum.

“Madalena Santos Reinbolt: A Head Full of Planets”
Where:
The American Folk Art Museum
When: Through May 25
Why It’s Worth a Look: Spanning more than half of all known works by Madalena Santos Reinbolt, the 42 textile pieces and oil paintings on display stitch together a vision of an overlooked talent, only posthumously receiving her first institutional solo. The exhibition examines the facets of her experience: as an artist, Black Brazilian woman, and domestic worker.
Know Before You Go: To further heighten the intimacy of these pieces, the exhibition includes recordings of the artist's interviews with anthropologist and art critic Lélia Coelho Frota performed by the Brazilian-born poet, educator, and Black feminist scholar Luana Reis.

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Rashid Johnson, "A Poem for Deep Thinkers" (Installation View), 2025. Image courtesy of the artist and the Guggenheim.

A Poem for Deep Thinkers” by Rashid Johnson
Where:
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
When: Through January 18, 2026
Why It’s Worth a Look: If you think the museum's rotunda itself is awe-inspiring, Rashid Johnson’s sweeping takeover—featuring nearly 90 works—will leave you stunned. The exhibit mixes personal iconography with cultural critiques through a variety of mediums, including black-soap paintings, spray-painted text pieces, sculpture, film, and video.
Know Before You Go: Keep an eye on the rotating lineup of live performances and public programming that accompanies the show. This month, don't miss the reading series curated by the Teachers & Writers Collaborative, or live music is curated by Grammy Award–winning jazz musician Wayne Escoffery.

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Sam Moyer, Fern Friend Grief Growth, 2024. Photography by JSP Art Photography. Image courtesy of the artist, Sean Kelly Gallery, and the Hill Art Foundation.

“Woman with Holes” by Sam Moyer
Where:
The Hill Art Foundation
When: Through August 1
Why It’s Worth a Look: Sam Moyer invites viewers into a dreamlike world where marble slabs mimic canvas and windows become walls. Paired with works from the Hill Collection—including pieces by Isamu Noguchi (whose work inspired the show title), Jasper Johns, and Liz Glynn—Moyer's pieces examine the line between solid form and illusion.
Know Before You Go: For those who can't get enough, Moyer's work is concurrently on view in "Subject to Change" at Sean Kelly through June 14.

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Jennie C. Jones, “Ensemble” (Installation View), 2025. Image courtesy of the artist and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“Ensemble” by Jennie C. Jones
Where: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
When: Through October 19
Why It’s Worth a Look: The Met Roof Commission has become a highlight in New York, marrying visionary work with brilliant views of Central Park. This time, Jennie C. Jones is turning the rooftop into a sound stage with melodious sculptures inspired by string instruments. Drawing on the rhythms of Black improvisation and modernist form, her pieces hum with energy—and sound.
Know Before You Go: Stand close, step back, shift your perspective—the forms change depending on your position. Just don't touch the work—it's meant to be played only by the breeze.

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Andro Eradze, Flowering and Fading (Film Still), 2024. Image courtesy of the artist, Lo schermo Dell’arte, Fondazione In Between Art Film, SpazioA Pistoia, and MoMA PS1.

“The Gatherers”
Where:
MoMA PS1
When: Through October 6
Why It’s Worth a Look: What do you get when you cross a trash heap with sharp artistic critique? "The Gatherers" at MoMA PS1. Fourteen artists—including Tolia Astakhishvili, Ser Serpas, Klara Lidén, and Samuel Hindolo—scavenge meaning from detritus, framing assemblage as a radical act in the age of climate disaster.
Know Before You Go: Many of these artists are making their institutional U.S. debuts—don’t miss your chance to see their breakthrough. This is post-globalization art that piles high, cuts deep, and asks: What do we do with all that’s been left behind?

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Lee Quiñones, Breakfast at Baychester, 1980. Image courtesy of the artist and the Museum of the City of New York / Martin Wong Collection.

“Above Ground: Art from the Martin Wong Graffiti Collection”
Where:
The Museum of the City of New York
When: Through August 24
Why It’s Worth a Look: The exhibition captures the pivotal moment when graffiti jumped from subway cars to gallery walls. Featuring works by foundational creatives like Lady Pink, Futura 2000, and Rammellzee, the show pulls back the curtain on the genre’s art-world debut—and the streetwise energy that came with it.
Know Before You Go: The pieces on view are drawn from the late Martin Wong’s game-changing donation to the Museum of the City of New York. It’s graffiti before the gloss—bursting with color, rebellion, and raw creative ambition.

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Mary Heilmann, "Long Line" (Installation View), 2025. Image courtesy of the artist and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

“Long Line” by Mary Heilmann
Where:
The Whitney Museum of American Art
When: Through January 19, 2026
Why It’s Worth a Look: Mary Heilmann once said museums should be places to hang out—and with "Long Line," she presents a literal invitation to do just that. The artist's sculptural chairs dot the Whitney’s largest outdoor gallery facing the city skyline, while a hand-painted enlargement of her 2020 painting of the same name creates a landscape on the opposite wall. Think color, abstraction, and coastal daydreams filtered through decades of countercultural cool.
Know Before You Go: This installation marks the 10th anniversary of the Whitney’s Meatpacking location, and a return for Heilmann, who first transformed this terrace into a technicolor lounge in 2015. 

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Shot from the studio of Luana Vitra, 2025. Photography by Léo Mitre. Image courtesy of the artist, Mitre Galeria, and SculptureCenter.

“Amulets” by Luana Vitra
Where:
SculptureCenter
When: Through July 28
Why It’s Worth a Look: Luana Vitra summons the spiritual charge of Brazil’s mineral-rich terrain into her striking sculptural language. With tall iron totems and clay vessels acting as coded devotional offerings, her work doesn’t just speak—it chants and whispers.
Know Before You Go: "Amulets" is Vitra’s first U.S. institutional solo and an ethereal convergence of physics, chemistry, and cosmology. Expect symbolic knots, veiled offerings, and a feathered curtain that shifts the entire energy of the building. Show up open to the idea that sculpture can do more than stand still.

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John Zorn, Grosse Rake, 1969. Photography by Daniel Terna. Image courtesy of the artist and the Drawing Center.

“Hermetic Cartography” by John Zorn
Where:
The Drawing Center
When: Through May 11
Why It’s Worth a Look: John Zorn may be best known for reinventing the soundscape of downtown New York, but “Hermetic Cartography” cracks open his visual world—and it’s just as wild. This show pulls back the curtain on Zorn’s decades of private mark-making: defined by dense graphic scores, esoteric notations, abstract poetry, and drawings that feel equal parts séance and symphony.
Know Before You Go: Zorn’s works aren’t just to be looked at—in the mind, they hum with the same improvisational energy that drives his compositions. Bring a curious ear and a sharp eye; this is a chance to decode the visual side of one of experimental music’s most elusive figures.

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“Video After Video: The Critical Media of CAMP" (Installation Video), 2025. Image courtesy of MoMA.

“Video After Video: The Critical Media of CAMP”
Where:
MoMA
When: Through July 20
Why It’s Worth a Look: Mumbai-based artists' studio CAMP doesn’t just make video art—it rewires how we think about watching together. The collective turns surveillance footage, sailor-shot cell phone clips, and neighborhood broadcast networks into acts of resistance, connection, and radical reimagination. At MoMA, three pivotal works distill the group's two-decade practice into a quiet upheaval, examining how images move and who gets to move them.
Know Before You Go: This exhibition is small in scale but expansive in impact. Visitors will traverse dense cityscapes, trade routes, and the politics of image-making itself, all through the lens of everyday tech used with uncommon clarity. And, don’t miss CAMP’s open-access video archives, where the conversation continues long after you leave the museum.

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