NYC Summer Art Exhibits You Actually Want to See
Where to cool off, space out, and get inspired this summer.
Summer’s in its sweaty second act, and while the city dares you to move beyond rooftop spritzes and beach getaways, its art scene makes a solid case for staying put. Whether you’re chasing immersive installations, rare retrospectives, or buzzy group shows, these NYC (and just-upstate) exhibits are your escape hatch into something more inspired than iced matcha.
Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers
Where: Guggenheim Museum, Rotunda
1071 5th Ave, New York
When: April 18, 2025 – January 18, 2026
A full takeover of the Guggenheim’s iconic rotunda, Johnson’s most ambitious show yet unfurls like a living mind map—more than 90 works spanning three decades, including new commissions, outdoor sculpture, and live performance. Expect black soap, anxious figures, cosmic symbolism, and a charged meditation on race, masculinity, and modern life—at once a spectacle, a sanctuary, and a spiral into the soul.
Group Show: I Have Become My Own Worst Fear
Where: P·P·O·W Gallery, 392 Broadway, New York
When: July 16 – August 15, 2025
Artists: Dotty Attie, Jimmy DeSana, Betty Tompkins, Martin Wong, David Wojnarowicz & more
A powerful lineup of artists confronts self-image, sexuality, and identity through provocative, era-defining works.
Agnieszka Kurant: Collective Intelligence
Where: Marian Goodman Gallery, 385 Broadway, New York
When: July 11 – August 22, 2025
Termites, AI, and social movements collide in Kurant’s surreal and data-infused vision of evolution and labor. A rare, brainy delight.
Where: The Hole, 312 Bowery, New York
When: Now through Summer 2025
Artists: Kembra Pfahler, Barry McGee, E.V. Day, Pedro Pedro, and many more.
A lush group show centered around flora and the botanical obsession in contemporary art—fruiting, blooming, and sprouting with color.
Where: Whitney Museum of American Art, 5th Floor
99 Gansevoort Street, New York
When: Through January 11, 2026
Nature meets code in this quietly radical show of software-based works by Marina Zurkow, where digital animation, participatory rituals, and ecological storytelling blur the line between the organic and the algorithmic.
The River is a Circle transforms the Hudson into a living, animated system—driven by real-time weather data and history, from Lenape trade routes to queer nightlife. Don’t miss the terrace installation—and enjoy sweeping views of the West Village and Hudson River while you're at it.
Where: NY Botanical Garden (Bronx)
When: May 24 – October 26, 2025
A multisensory takeover featuring massive floral sculptures and garden installations inspired by Van Gogh’s iconic blooms. Nighttime “Starry Nights” events feature drone shows, cocktails, and live art.
Group Show: Ceci n'est pas une guerre – This Is Not a War
Where: Eli Klein Gallery, 398 West St, New York
When: May 23 – August 23, 2025
Artists: Bui Cong Khanh, Doan Van Toi, Oanh Phi Phi, Nguyen Phuong Linh, Ha Ninh Pham, Truong Tan, Minh Dung Vu & more
Seventeen Vietnamese artists challenge reductive narratives of war and trauma, revealing the full spectrum of contemporary Vietnamese expression—vibrant, experimental, and alive with energy.
Gabriel Rico: A Finger Pointing to the Moon
Where: Perrotin, 130 Orchard Street, New York
When: June 12 – August 1, 2025
Playful yet philosophical, Rico’s sculptural assemblages point—literally and metaphorically—toward the cosmic, inviting viewers to decode symbols grounded in both nature and mythology.
Christiane Pooley: Imaginary Country
Where: Perrotin, 130 Orchard Street, New York
When: June 12 – August 1, 2025
Pooley’s paintings evoke dreamlike topographies—poetic, introspective visions of landscapes shaped as much by memory as by geography. A deeply meditative exploration of place, absence, and inner terrain.
Pace Summer Shows
Where: PACE Gallery, 540 + 508–510 West 25th St
When: Through August 15, 2025
Highlights:
Alicja Kwade: Telos Tales – Bronze grows from steel like thought from form—Kwade’s sculptures bend time and logic, casting ancient philosophy in futuristic shapes.
Robert Mangold – Geometric abstraction masterclass.
Robert Indiana – The American Dream, stripped to its symbols, shouts in bold type and sharp geometry. Hope, disillusion, and desire rendered in steel and silence.
Group Show: Faktura / Tektonika
Where: Sean Kelly Gallery, 475 Tenth Avenue, New York
When: June 26 – August 8, 2025
Artists include: Soldevilla, Jose Dávila, Wu Chi-Tsung, James Casebere, Anthony McCall, Donna Huanca, Anthony Akinbola, Sam Moyer, Harminder Judge, Brian Rochefort, Ilana Savdie, and more.
A bold reimagining of Constructivist principles, this group show explores how material and structure shape perception. Featuring works by Soldevilla, Jose Dávila, Donna Huanca, James Casebere, and others, Faktura / Tektonika bridges generations through industrial media, abstraction, and spatial experimentation.
Group Exhibit: Scenes of Disclosure
Where: Greene Naftali, 508 West 26th Street, New York
When: July 1 – August 8, 2025
Curated by: Cory Nomura and Jeffrey Rowledge
Artists include: Beverly Buchanan, Maggie Lee, Clifford Prince King, Jack Smith, G.B. Jones & Paul P., Reina Sugihara & more
Private impulses meet public expression in this multigenerational show, where ornament, archive, and abstraction reveal the subtle architectures of feeling and identity.
Where: The Met, 1000 Fifth Ave
When: Through August 3, 2025
Swoon over “Madame X” and trace John Singer Sargent’s evolution through Belle Époque Paris, scandal included.
Where: Galerie Sardine, 261 Main Street, Amagansett, NY
When: July 18 – August 8, 2025
Tenki Hiramatsu’s atmospheric paintings meet Nate Lowman’s enigmatic light sculptures in this moody duet on partial revelation. Penumbral dwells in the in-between—where shadow, form, and meaning flicker just out of reach.
Artists: Lynn Duryea and John Gibson
Where: Cove St. Arts
71 Cove St., Portland, ME 04101
When: July 24 – September 20, 2025
Don’t Miss: Opening reception July 24 (5–7pm); Artist Talk Aug 14 (6pm)
A dual exhibition exploring spatial tension and dimensional play through ceramics and sculptural works.
