EXHIBITS
There's always something exciting opening (& closing) in NYC. Don't miss these must-see temporary museum exhibits & pop-ups!
Also see our guides to NYC museums (which have spectacular permanent collections and host fun family programs), all the public art and gallery-heavy Chelsea/Meatpacking.
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Closing Soon
The Fans Strike Back – Last Chance
The Fans Strike BackCloses Sep 24
Explore the world’s largest private Star Wars collection made by fans, for fans, with more than 600 collectibles and figurines, life-size figures and famous costumes, more than 50 one-of-a-kind sculptures, armor, lightsabers, blasters, helmets, masks, and more in a immersive space. Use a green chroma to take pictures with selected backgrounds and visit the merchandise shop.
Hymn to the Big Wheel
Brookfield PlaceCloses Sep 24
Walk through a rainbow and explore the illusion and physicality of color and natural light in space in Liz West’s giant sculptural work, Hymn to the Big Wheel.
See our guide to Brookfield Place
Shelby & Sandy: Animals
Taglialatella GalleriesCloses Sep 26
Find cartoon characters, aquatic creatures, jungle cats and long-stemmed birds within a fun, imaginative world created by Los Angeles brothers Shelby & Sandy. The artists’ signature style of vibrant colors and playful compositions comes through in minimal Pop-Art inspired work, often referencing cartoons, movies, toys, superheroes, and people or places from their childhood.
Monday-Saturday 10 am – 6 pm
Kate Clark: Only One Rule
Kate Clark StudioCloses Oct 3
Walk among life-size hybrid sculptures synthesizing the human face and the body of wild animals by Brooklyn sculptor Kate Clark. Find anthropomorphic zebras, monkeys, wolves and other favorite animals.
Tuesday-Saturday 10 am–6 pm
Anila Quayyum Agha – A Moment to Consider
Sundaram Tagore GalleryCloses Oct 8
Immerse in light and shadow in this exhibit of new paintings, drawings and light installations by Anila Quayyum Agha, an acclaimed Pakistani-American artist known for her illuminated, suspended cubes. Ornamental patterns from history in metal, resin and paper using traditional and contemporary techniques of craft are reimagined in works ranging from monumental laser-cut steel sculptures to intimate hand-embroidered drawings, paying homage to artists and craftspeople who historically have gone unrecognized and unnamed despite the importance of their artistic output.
Tuesday-Saturday 10 am–6 pm
Changing Spaces
Rockefeller CenterCloses Oct 13
Interact with a water-based sculpture Changing Spaces by renowned visual artist Jeppe Hein. The social sculpture and “liquid architecture” inspires visitors to interact playfully with the artwork and their surroundings and offer a peaceful respite within this iconic city center. Move within circular walls of water shooting up from the ground.
See our guide to Rockefeller Center.
MORE MUST-SEES
Dinosaur Safari
The Bronx ZooCloses Nov 4
Travel back in time and get up close with 52 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs and pterosaurs in the Bronx Zoo’s a ¼ mile-long walk-through Dinosaur Safari.
Look for the new-this-year 110-foot Argentinosaurus, the 40 foot long Tyrannosaurus rex and the largest known pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus.
At the ADA-accessible dig site, dig up ancient fossils, compare them to…
Life of a Neuron
Chelsea MarketCloses Nov 13
Step into the human brain – an immersive, digital 3D model of a real human prefrontal cortex neuron — the “thinking cell” of the brain — and see it grow from birth through death.
Created by ARTECHOUSE Studio in partnership with Society for Neuroscience (SfN), this exhibition is the result of three years of ardent…
Jim Henson’s World
Museum of Moving ImageCloses Dec 31
Explore Jim Henson’s groundbreaking work for film and television and his transformative impact on popular culture and learn how Henson and his team of builders, performers, and writers brought to life the enduringly popular worlds of The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth.
Among the nearly 300 objects on view…
Shoes: Anatomy, Identity, Magic
Museum at FITCloses Dec 31
Explore our physical, social, and psychological relationship with shoes through more than 300 pairs of shoes, boots, sandals, and sneakers.
The exhibition begins with a pair of baby shoes, indicating how shoes accompany us on the journey of life and explores themes like anatomy, identity and magic.
Wednesday–Friday 12 pm–8 pm
Saturday–Sunday 10 am–5…
Barbara Kruger Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)Closes Jan 3
Barbara Kruger’s bold textual statements about truth, belief, and power envelop the Marron Family Atrium in a large-scale commission.
Combining provocatively concise language with images drawn from mass-media, the immersive work explores the ways that relationships between spatial and political power invariably relate to considerations of inclusion and exclusion, dominance and agency.
See our complete…
New York: 1962-1964
The Jewish MuseumCloses Jan 8
Find vibrant pop-art, rainbow paintings, groovy fashion, a model living room (with a tiny TV) giant sculptures made from unexpected material and more delightful surprises in Explore a pivotal three-year period in the history of art and culture in New York City, examining how artists living and working in New York responded to their rapidly…
Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech”
Brooklyn MuseumCloses Jan 29
The first museum exhibition devoted to late visionary artist and designer Virgil Abloh work spans two decades of the artist’s multidisciplinary practice, including collaborations with artist Takashi Murakami, musician Kanye West, and architect Rem Koolhaas, among others; material from his fashion label Off-White; and items from Louis Vuitton, where he served as the first Black…
Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color
Metropolitan Museum Of ArtCloses Mar 26
Did you know Ancient Greek and Roman sculpture was once colorful? Learn the colorful backstory of polychromy (“many colors” in Greek) in an exhibit highlighting cutting-edge scientific methods used to identify ancient color and examining how color helped convey meaning in antiquity.
Presented alongside original Greek and Roman works representing similar subjects…
The New York Public Library’s Treasures
New York Public LibraryCloses Dec 31
See some of the most extraordinary items from the 56 million in the New York Public Library’s collections of the last 125+ years. Encounter manuscripts, artworks, letters, still and moving images, recordings, and more that bring vividly to life voices of the past. Highlight’s include the stuffed inspiration for Winnie-the-Pooh and Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten copy…