As the days grow shorter and the crisp autumn air gives way to winter chill, New York City’s cultural institutions are launching one of their most ambitious and diverse exhibition seasons in recent memory. Spanning the length of Museum Mile, the industrial stretches of Brooklyn, and cultural outposts across the boroughs, museums and galleries are redefining what art can encompass. From surrealist literature and graphic novels to the hidden histories of Manhattan streets and the enduring cultural footprint of toys, the city’s latest offerings invite residents and travelers alike to explore profound narratives through unconventional mediums.
Whether art lovers are wandering through the architectural marvel of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s main rotunda or traversing the quiet, contemplative gallery spaces at the contemporary Amant campus in East Williamsburg, the city’s current museum calendar offers a sweeping look at history, identity, technology, and human creativity.
New Museum
At the New Museum, the institution’s programming continues its sharp focus on place, time, and human experience. Spanning two floors, Arthur Jafa: I Am Tony marks the first comprehensive solo exhibition of the acclaimed American artist and cinematographer’s work over a four-decade career. The centerpiece of the presentation is his searing eight-minute video montage, Love is the Message, the Message is Death, which weaves together a complex tapestry of the Black experience across the 20th century. By sampling clips from music videos, historic newscasts, and sporting events, Jafa captures a powerful spectrum of communal grief, joy, and resilience.
Just upstairs on the second floor, Bowery: Devil’s Mile takes visitors on a historical journey through four centuries of one of lower Manhattan’s most mythic and storied thoroughfares. The exhibition traces the street’s radical transformations: from its origins as a pre-colonial Lenape footpath to a boisterous fin de siècle strip filled with saloons and dance halls, later serving as a crucible for Beatniks, punk rockers, and post-rock musicians before eventually hosting the museum itself. Although the historic Skid Row has largely given way to a tamer urban crowd, its vibrant and gritty past comes alive through 19th-century sideshow flyers, Jacob Riis’s seminal photographs documenting the working class, and an array of historic ephemera. Arthur Jafa: I Am Tony remains on view through January 3, 2027, while Bowery: Devil’s Mile runs through January 31, 2027.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Over at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, artist Taryn Simon presents Father Country I Do Love You, an expansive installation that begins with a personal anecdote shared by her father about an intelligence officer he met years ago. Simon builds upon this memory by chronicling her own encounters with an anonymous former FBI agent. Utilizing roughly one thousand images, alongside text, video, and sculpture, Simon weaves layered stories within stories, documenting the myriad characters, forgotten places, and seismic historical events the agent crossed paths with over a lifetime.
Installed along the museum’s famous spiraling rotunda—fittingly circular in every sense of the word—this presentation represents the largest single body of work to debut at the Guggenheim. While the sheer scale and complexity of the narrative may feel surreal, the exhibition underscores the often-absurd reality of modern history. The exhibition is open to the public through March 14, 2027.
Amant
Tucked away among the industrial warehouses of East Williamsburg, the arts center Amant established itself as a major cultural destination following the summer opening of its restaurant, Zoli. Beyond the culinary destination, visitors are invited to spend an afternoon engaging with Sentient Earth, a campus-wide exhibition that challenges 28 contemporary artists to imagine what the planet might communicate to humanity if it possessed direct sentience.
Featuring larger-than-life blister pill packs displayed as archaeological artifacts alongside objects closely resembling industrial mining tools and refuse, the exhibition offers a sobering yet vital look at humanity’s environmental impact. Infused with flashes of dark humor and an undeniable sense of urgency, the exhibition is free and open to the public, running through February 14, 2027.
Museum of Modern Art
At the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the focus shifts from books containing art to books functioning as art itself. The Surrealist Book: Tomorrow Lives in Mirrors examines how Surrealist creators utilized publishing as a primary medium for ideological and formal experimentation. The showcase features rare works by André Breton, Max Ernst, and especially notable photomontages by queer artist Claude Cahun, who famously toyed with gender presentation through portraiture and poetry. Cahun’s inclusion marks a long-overdue art historical reckoning for a figure largely overlooked throughout the 20th century.
On the museum’s second floor, Teresa Margolles: Aproximación al lugar de los hechos (Approaching the Scene) employs forensic precision to trace the devastating human toll of femicide and systemic violence across various American states, including Minnesota, California, and Texas. Utilizing raw fragments such as shattered glass and contaminated soil, Margolles—drawing upon her professional background as a forensic pathologist—creates an overwhelming atmosphere of loss that resonates deeply for both the victims and those left behind.
Visitors looking to experience the full scope of the project can take a brief subway ride on the F train to MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, Queens, to view the complementary second installment, Teresa Margolles: En el lugar de los hechos (At the Scene), which remains on view through February. The Surrealist Book: Tomorrow Lives in Mirrors runs through January 23, 2027, while the Manhattan chapter of Margolles’s work continues through the summer of 2027.
Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology
Dolls have long occupied a dual role in society, serving simultaneously as childhood playthings and sophisticated muses for designers exploring fantasy, scale, and human aspiration. Spanning three centuries of design, the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology presents Doll Dressing, an exhibition exploring how these miniature figures have continuously influenced fashion and personal presentation.
The exhibition highlights how avant-garde brands and couture houses—including Margiela, Loewe, and Marc Jacobs—manipulate scale and visual illusion. It also investigates the archetype of the living doll through cultural touchstones such as the 1960s British supermodel Twiggy and the contemporary Japanese lolita subculture. Alongside these high-fashion explorations are classic miniature models, featuring historical boudoir dolls, Barbie, Bratz, and lesser-known Japanese collectibles like Takara. The exhibition is scheduled to run through January 3, 2027.
Brooklyn Museum
Marking the first major museum exhibition in the Americas dedicated to the medium, the Brooklyn Museum presents Art of Manga, a comprehensive look at the global phenomenon of Japanese graphic novels and their profound impact on contemporary art and narrative traditions. The exhibition features more than 600 original drawings, including rare works by Hirohiko Araki, creator of the cult-favorite series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure; Eiichiro Oda, the mind behind the bestselling epic One Piece; and master horror manga artist Junji Ito.
For visitors interested in traditional sculptural forms, the museum’s fourth floor hosts Hopi Kachina Dolls: Blessings for a Balanced World. This sensitive presentation highlights 53 painted and carved wooden figures traditionally gifted to Hopi girls and women during coming-of-age ceremonies, celebrating craftsmanship and cultural heritage. Art of Manga runs through January 31, 2027, while Hopi Kachina Dolls remains on view through June 27, 2027.
The New York Historical Society
Concluding its ambitious six-part series celebrating America’s quarter-millennium milestone, The New York Historical Society presents You Should Be Dancing: New York, 1976 and Beyond. The exhibition explores the distinct yet interconnected disco, punk, and hip-hop scenes that erupted across the boroughs during a period of severe municipal financial crisis.
Nostalgic and historically rich, the exhibition features tangible pieces of New York’s nightlife history, including an original fabric awning from the legendary Bowery music venue CBGB. Visitors can also examine handwritten lyric sheets by Patti Smith and Richard Hell, original invitations to exclusive Studio 54 parties, an early film screenplay for Saturday Night Fever, and numerous other artifacts capturing the city’s restless creative spirit. The exhibition is on view through April 2, 2027.
