September is the marker of a new year to some. As the seasons transition, it has a simple, organised energy to it, which can indicate new stationery, journals and an autumnal reset. Take the time to fill out your cultural calendar with this month's New York art exhibitions. Discover the poignant sculpture by the late artist Michael Richards, who created an ode to the Tuskegee Airmen, the US Air Force’s first Black unit, which was formed in 1941. Ukrainian-born artist Zoya Cherkassky presents ‘American Cooking’, a series which looks at ordinary rituals through the lens of someone who has just emigrated to the US, while Bea Scaccia’s paintings bring together a variety of objects to create monster-like forms in a comedic way. Or escape the city altogether and head upstate to Hudson, and discover Jeannette Montgomery Barron's ‘Table Top’ photography, which leaves a whisper of summer. Don't miss a thing with our monthly updated guide to the best exhibitions to see in and around NYC.
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The best New York art exhibitions: what to see this month
Nate Lowman: Hanging Out
David Zwirner 10 September — October 24, 2026
Artist Nate Lowman has created a body of shaped canvases to take the form of objects associated with access and security. Keys are at the core of the showcase, a first for the artist, who usually looks to shapes of hearts, tees, and flowers. His paintings are interpretations of photographs he has taken and capture the journey of key-making, from its final form to before being cut into its final shape.
Danny Fox: Fata Morgana
Alexander Berggruen, September 9-October 7, 2026
Cornish artist Danny Fox is constantly inspired by the Cornish coastline. For his new body of work, he was captivated by passing ships and the blue seascapes that expanded beyond his hometown of St Ives. Referencing the historical Cornish painter Alfred Wallis, Fox presents 'Fata Morgana ', a series of paintings which are re-enactments of historical ships and their crew. Speaking about his boat paintings, Fox stated, 'I find the image of the small boat or vessel similar to the horse and rider in many ways. So classic, so fundamentally human but simultaneously ambiguous. These paintings reflect on the poignancy of the humble journey so many have made, and perhaps we all must make.'
Michael Richards: Free F’All
Brooklyn Museum from September 11, 2026–June 6, 2027
The Brooklyn Museum presents a poignant exhibition by artist Michael Richards (American, 1963–2001). The sculpture showcases a pilot with his eyes closed. His body is pierced with dozens of nails. Richards designed the sculpture to commemorate the Tuskegee Airmen, the US Air Force’s first Black unit which was formed in 1941. Richards lost his life on September 11, 2001, while working at his studio in the World Trade Center’s North Tower.
'Zoya Cherkassky: American Cooking'
Fort Gansevoort September 16, 2026 - November 7, 2026
The Ukrainian-born artist Zoya Cherkassky presents a new series of paintings and drawings that explores ordinary moments, like cooking, through the lens of someone living in a place that feels familiar yet different. Her paintings are vibrant, full of colour, and littered with dry humour throughout. Cherkassky moved to Israel after the collapse of the Soviet Union. She also left Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks in 2023. Now residing in Long Island, New York, her work mirrors her adjustment to living in the United States.
Groomed: Bea Scaccia
Gagosian 22 September until 23 December, 2026
For artist Bea Scaccia, painting scenes almost overflow with nods to feminine style and varying textures. In a warm, earthy palette, Scaccia captures wigs, costume jewellery, shoes, zippers, belts, hair clips, bows, tassels, and faux fur. Together, the assortment of things creates human-like figures which feel disturbing at first, but as each detail is unlocked, the scenario has a sort of humour to it. Depicted at night, each scene is illuminated with a warm glow from fringe lamps.
Jordan Wolfson
Gagosian September 18 – October 24, 2026
Sculptures in a uniform style are positioned next to black-and-white photography ( a mixture of images sourced online and from personal and academic archives) that create scenes that nod to art history and popular culture, while placed against the backdrop of New York. This exhibition marks the first with the gallery.
gagosian.com
Jeannette Montgomery Barron ‘Table Top’
Neverstill Wines until 31 December 2026
This exhibition is a fun one just outside of the city. Enjoy a glass of wine (or two) and admire the photography by Jeannette Montgomery Barron. Her ‘Table Top’ series looks at various tables around Europe in an assortment of layouts and colours. The photographer is best known for her 1980s New York portraits. This shift marks a simple and relatable dialogue in the aftermath of shared meals and drinks.
Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses
Brooklyn Museum until 6 December 2026
The work by Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen is explored in this visually tactile exhibition. It invites the viewer to discover the body’s relationship with clothing and how it is adapting to a changing world. Alongside her work are contemporary pieces by various artists, natural history such as fossils and corals, all of which have shaped her creative process.
Material Intent: Color and Form
Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery until 18 October 2026
This exhibition showcases objects and furniture that play with light and space. The selected pieces showcase both contemporary and historic works, with a focus on lighting sculptures. The unusual shapes give the designs a characterful presence. Colour adds brightness to the showcase, creating a joyful experience viewing the interplay between object and space.
‘Keith Haring: A World in Motion’
60 White, ongoing
Recreated in 60 White’s multistorey space is San Francisco nightclub DV8, a hedonistic playground of the 1980s-90s that featured murals painted by Haring. This kind of community element is central to Haring’s work, and is also epitomised in his chalk drawings on black paper, which became familiar sights on the New York subway, and the Sister Cities – For Tokyo painting that he created in 1985, marking the friendship between New York and Tokyo, a bold and brilliant tribute to two cities he loved. Born in New York, it was an energy that spread around the world, taking shape in an instantly recognisable shared visual language, a fluidity celebrated now with an exhibition,
Writer Hannah Silver
Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum until 27 September 2026
Peeps Marshmallow Chicks cooling on a conveyor belt before packaging, 2023. Photographed by Christopher Payne (American, born 1968). Just Born Quality Confections (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania).
‘Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne’ is an exhibition featuring Payne’s intricately detailed photography of America’s factories. The exhibition brings together more than 70 large-format photographs captured by Payne over a decade-long photographic journey to learn more about the craft of both industrial and artisanal making in the United States.
cooperhewitt.org
Pierre Huyghe: UUmwelt
Museum of Modern Art until 29 November 2026
Pierre Huyghe’s UUmwelt uses machine learning to explore what it might look like if nonhuman entities could reconstruct our thoughts. Huyghe explores what it means to see a world that is no longer centred on the human mind through otherworldly pieces. The exhibition helps to engage in conversation, which redefines technology, human consciousness, and the natural environment.
Certainly an Act: Works on Paper by Pope.L
The Drawing Center until 27 September 2026
Known primarily for his performance, installation, and text-based art, Pope.L transformed drawing into a space of humorous critique, challenging audiences to see and think differently about how we interpret the world around us. Certainly an Act showcases more than two-hundred works—many never before publicly exhibited—ranging from the early 1980s to the artist’s final years. Here we see the core of his practice: a testing ground for ideas and a site for play and contradiction.
drawingcenter.org
The Life Force: Intimate Portraits from the Amparo y Manuel Collection
Museum of Sex until November 2026
At the Museum of Sex, 45 works from the Amparo y Manuel Collection dive into the relationship between portraiture and eroticism. Spanning painting, sculpture, drawing and photography by artists including Amoako Boafo, Tracey Emin and Bert Stern, the showcase features large-scale figurative portraits that show vulnerability and intimacy.
‘In 'The Life Force,' the body becomes a space where Eros and Thanatos exist in constant tension,' says Tam Gryn, curator and managing director at the Museum of Sex Miami, in a statement. ‘The artworks hold that complexity, between presence and disappearance, pleasure and instability–and reveal how intimacy can function as a form of resistance against decay. Within that fragility, the human impulse to love, feel, connect and remain alive becomes incredibly powerful.’
Summer of Moomin
The New York Botanical Garden until 13 September 2026
After the Moomins' debut US exhibition last year at the Brooklyn Public Library, Tove Jansson’s mystical characters are back, this time taking over The New York Botanical Garden. It is a fun, interactive installation which encourages people to get outdoors. The takeover features a clue-based quest, nature crafts, and large-scale character moments.
Gerhard Richter: Landschaften
David Zwirner New York: 20th Street from 7 May 2026
Gerhard Richter is known for his photorealist landscape paintings. Here, his work spans from the 1960s to the 2000s. Having begun looking at landscape as a subject for painting around six decades ago, he swiftly created atmospheric and calming compositions. His technique, and end result, nods to classics rooted in art history, and effortlessly captures the movement and tone of his travels. The exhibition is displayed in chronological order, each room dedicated to a period within the artist’s career.
Helen Frankenthaler & Anthony Caro: SIMILITUDES: Color, Form, Friendship
Yares Art from 11 April 2026
‘SIMILITUDES: Color, Form, Friendship' is an exhibition exploring the friendship between American painter Helen Frankenthaler and British sculptor Anthony Caro, who first became acquainted in New York in 1959. The exhibition looks at the similarities between both their work, and positions their friendship as a place for creative expression. Expect to see over 30 works including paintings, sculptures, and archival materials that illuminate their shared appreciation and use of colour, form, material and space. Alongside this, a selection of letters exchanged between them which spanned over five decades.
Jack Whitten: Prime Mover
Dia Beacon, long term view
The sculptor and artist Jack Whitten moved to New York in 1960. After a trip to Greece in 1969 he began to make sculptures and experimental drawings, which then accompanied his painting practice of more than five decades. Dia Beacon now presents a group of recently acquired works on paper which Whitten made during the 1970s using dry and wet black pigments. His work is abstract and explores new tools, materials, and methods of his own design to generate images
Shining a light on The Subway Sun
New York Transit Museum, ongoing
Historically on the New York subway, posters advised and informed users, encouraging correct etiquette and manners. For 'Shining a light on The Subway Sun', posters designed by illustrators Fred G Cooper and Amelia Opdyke Jones are celebrated, with the exhibition showcasing more than 40 examples from the museum's collection of approximately 120 original poster artworks and more than 100 vintage posters, most produced between 1936 and 1965.
Songs of New York
Museum of the City of New York, ongoing
LL Cool J with Cut Creator, E-Love, and B-Rock, Janette Beckman (1950-), 1986, Museum of the City of New York, 2016
Featuring music from 100 artists, ‘Songs of New York’ explores a full range of genres that have influenced the city from the 1920s through to the present day. Different genres explore different locations, from subways to apartments, nightclubs to neighbourhoods in this immersive, interactive exhibition.
mcny.org
'In the Shadow of the American Dream: David Wojnarowicz'
The Museum of Modern Art, ongoing
Wojnarowicz's work has been recontextualised by MoMA, which has presented it alongside that of the artist's contemporaries from the 1980s New York downtown scene, including filmmaker Marion Scemama, Donald Moffett, Agosto Machado and painter Martin Wong. Important works here include Wojnarowicz's's 1987 Fire, while Machado’s Shrine is a moving time capsule of ephemera. It includes a ‘Justice for Marsha’ sign, referring to questions around the suspicious death of trans activist Marsha P Johnson in 1992, as well as club flyers and memorial service cards.
Writer: Lauren Cochrane