Buckle-up for a plethora of Holiday Events, outdoor art installation and exhibitions this month ~ from Tree Lightings and Markets to the new car-free Fifth Avenue, there is no end to the fun to be had this Holiday Season. In addition, we light a candle in observance of World AIDS Day on December 1st. Here are a few suggestions for the month of December.
Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting ~ November 30
This year’s tree is approximately 85-90 years old and hails from Queensbury, New York. The Norway Spruce is about 14 tons, the tree is 82-feet tall and 50-feet wide. It will arrive at Rockefeller Center on November 12th to allow enough time to put more than 50,000 multi-colored LED lights on. The holiday season will begin with the annual tree lighting in the heart of New York City at Rockefeller Center on Wednesday, November 30.
And there’s nothing quite like ice skating under the tree on The Rink at Rockefeller Center. Open for ice skating through March, 2023.
Make a Donation at The Giving Machine at Rockefeller Center
This year, the public is invited to celebrate the season of giving by making a donation through the Giving Machine. The machines allow passersby to donate to local and global charities as well as purchase much-needed items — like meals, warm blankets, and polio vaccines — for those in need, or a single goat or two chickens to providing a household cleaning kit, polio vaccines or even a day at Yankee Stadium for an orphaned teen. When donors make their purchase via credit card, the Giving Machine dispenses a postcard featuring an image and description of their donation.
40th Annual Wreath Interpretations Exhibition at Arsenal Gallery ~ November 30
Join NYC Parks for the opening of the 40th annual Wreath Interpretations exhibition, which returns to the Arsenal Gallery with almost 40 inventive, handcrafted wreaths that celebrate the holiday season. Created by artists, designers, and creative individuals of all ages who have used inventive and unexpected materials, these wreaths re-envision the traditional holiday decoration.
Kicking-Off The Holiday Season
Every December, we kick-off our Holiday Season at one of the most festive restaurants in town ~ Welcome to Rolf’s German Restaurant in Gramercy Park.
Visiting the Historic National Arts Club During the Holidays
Built in 1845, the historic pair of townhouses, 14-15 Gramercy Park South, was home to Samuel J. Tilden, former governor of New York. who lived there until his death in 1886. Calvert Vaux, who became its next owner, combined the two row houses, creating the building that stands now ~ and has been home to The National Arts Club since 1906. Take a look inside with a few images images taken during past Holiday Seasons (below), or take a fabulous virtual tour!
2022 Holiday Markets in NYC Parks
NYC Parks is proud to showcase the reopening of New York City’s iconic park-hosted holiday markets this season. Now through January, you can find holiday markets welcoming New Yorkers and visitors to shop for clothes, trinkets, arts and crafts, good eats, and much more in some of the city’s famous parks. Parks is also excited to announce a new market joining in the holiday cheer at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park – Holiday Shops by Urbanspace, 41st St. and Avenue of the Americas ~ Open daily through January 2, 2023
Each year, Bryant Park transforms into a winter wonderland featuring an open-air holiday market where you can ice skate, eat, drink, and shop.
Union Square Holiday Market, 14th St. and Broadway ~ Open daily November 17 through December 24, 2022
The Union Square Holiday Market is the longest running and largest holiday market in the city. With over 160 vendors, there’s opportunities to stroll, peruse, and enjoy this holiday tradition in one of the City’s most iconic public spaces.
Columbus Circle Holiday Market, 59th St. / Columbus Circle and Central Park West ~ Open daily November 29 through December 24, 2022
Columbus Circle will be lit with holiday cheer and joy as the Holiday Market features over 140 vendors. Soak in the splendor of a holiday shopping experience in the heart of New York City.
Brooklyn Borough Hall Holiday Market in Columbus Park, 209 Joralemon St. ~ Open daily November 28 through December 26, 2022
Urbanspace’s newest holiday market features Brooklyn based artisans, restauranteurs, and vintage and antique collectors selling one-of-a-kind pieces. Finish your holiday gift shopping while supporting local businesses.
And here are NYC Parks Department Holiday Events
6sqft Posts Best NYC Holiday Markets and Pop-Up Shops
New York Theatre Guide to Holiday Shows in New York
Holidays on Atlantic Avenue
Ready, set, shop! Holidays on Atlantic Avenue are in full swing offering unique gifts, promotions, and stunning festive window displays. Shoppers can explore Brooklyn’s vibrant neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, and Downtown Brooklyn all season long without the hassle of cardboard boxes at their door. Throughout December, visitors can enjoy shop and dine specials at local businesses, pop-up entertainment, and photo opportunities with Santa.
Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off at Museum of the City of New York
The Museum of the City of New York invited top bakeries and amateur bakers from across the city to enter Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off —our first-ever holiday celebration of the communities in each of the five boroughs. Gingerbread NYC is on view through January 8, 2023.
The Origami Holiday Tree at The American Museum of Natural History
This year’s theme for the annual Origami Holiday Tree is ‘Beautiful Bugs’. It will feature specially created models inspired by the upcoming Susan and Peter J. Solomon Family Insectarium opening in Winter 2023 as part of the Museum’s new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation.
Among the more than 1,000 origami pieces decorating the tree will be intricately designed models of long-legged grasshoppers, brilliantly colored butterflies, and iridescent beetles, as well as those depicting iconic Museum exhibits like the Blue Whale and Tyrannosaurus rex. The Origami Holiday Tree will be on view to January 9, 2023.
Holiday House NYC 2022 Designer Showhouse from November 10 to December 11
Holiday House NYC’s 2022 Designer Showhouse will open with a Gala on Wednesday, November 9th, and open to the public from November 10 ~ December 11, 2022. This year, the Designer Showhouse will take over two penthouse apartments in The Kent, a 30-story luxury residential tower located at 200 East 95th Street, NYC.
Holiday Lighting Displays in all NYC Parks Listed by Borough
Tree Lightings in each and every Borough, in many of the Parks ~ all listed here.
Governors Island Winter Village
The Village will opened November 17, 2022, and includes a 7,500-square-foot ice skating rink open Fridays-Sundays and all NYC Department of Education holidays, along with daily attractions and activities including more than a dozen lawn games, sled and bike rentals from Blazing Saddles, twinkling lights and delicious seasonal food and drinks.
The New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show + The NYBG Glow
NYBG’s Holiday Train Show—a favorite holiday tradition—has been making memories for over 30 years! See model trains zip through an enchanting display of more than 190 replicas of New York landmarks, each delightfully re-created from natural materials such as birch bark, lotus pods, and cinnamon sticks. On view to January 16, 2023.
Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights
During the evenings, the Bronx Zoo comes to life with holiday cheer as immersive light displays, custom-designed animal lanterns and animated light shows sparkle across the zoo. The celebration includes festive entertainment, seasonal treats, the Holiday Train, and classic holiday music. The walk-through experience is a beloved tradition, enchanting and fun for all ages.
Spectacular Factory: The Holiday Multiverse at ARTECHOUSE in Chelsea Market
Artechouse has announced an immersive and enchanting holiday art experience for the whole family – SPECTACULAR FACTORY: The Holiday Multiverse. Open to the public November 19, 2022 – January 8, 2023,Spectacular Factory immerses guests into an imaginative multiverse of holiday villages. Visitors will float among giant swinging jingle bells, crash the party of a thousand nutcrackers, join a thrilling train ride through wreaths, take a spin in the candy cane carousel and more! Located at Chelsea Market, ARTECHOUSE NYC is conveniently situated among scores of vendors offering artisanal food, art, and apparel gifting options for the holidays.
Luminaries in the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place
View the mesmerizing display of colorful lanterns in the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place! Conceived by the LAB at Rockwell Group, Luminaries’ glowing canopy consists of 640 twinkling custom lanterns that change in color and intensity.
Celebrating Beloved Pets on a Memorial Tree in Central Park
Hidden deep within Central Park, in a secluded place, stands a perfectly situated tree, dressed up for the Holiday’s every year ~ the ornaments all dedicated to beloved pets who have passed on ~ but as we see each year, are never forgotten.
Art in DUMBO, First Thursday ~ December 1
Visitors enjoy incredible views of the East River and the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges as they walk from one gallery to the next. Free and open to the public.
Observing World AIDS Day at NYC AIDS Memorial Park ~ December 1
The New York City AIDS Memorial will mark the annual observance of World AIDS Day with an afternoon and evening of free and public programming with partners including Housing Works and Queer Soup Night.
World AIDS Day: Open Community Circle & Screening at The Drawing Center ~ December 1
Join The Drawing Center on December 1, World AIDS Day, for a daylong open community circle—a quiet space for remembrance and contemplation in the galleries—followed at 6pm by a public film screening, held in conjunction with the ongoing exhibition Ecce Homo: The Drawings of General Idea.
ICP + MTA Arts & Design Unveil Paul Pfeiffer: Still Life at Grand Central Madison ~ in December (tba)
The International Center of Photography (ICP) will partner with MTA Arts & Design to present site-specific artwork by artist Paul Pfeiffer in the cultural corridor of Grand Central Madison, a new 700,000-square-foot Long Island Rail Road terminal below Grand Central along Madison Avenue between 43rd and 48th Streets in Manhattan, due to open in December 2022. Pfeiffer’s work, Still Life, pays homage to the iconic New York City street performer “Da Gold Man” with large-scale photographs installed in double-sided light boxes. It will be the first in a series of site-specific contemporary photography exhibitions by ICP to be featured in the south concourse of the new Grand Central Madison terminal.
Human Canvas Painting at Human Connection Arts ~ December 1
Human Canvas Painting: December 2022 to March 2023. If you’ve never been a part of one of the Human Canvas Paintings, it is a completely unique experience that’s not to be missed. Throughout the cold weather, when it’s too cold to get painted in the public streets, they cozy up with each other, actually connect to each other and create a large one-of-a-kind painting. Sign up!
Sketch Night at Frick Madison ~ December 2
Enjoy the galleries and draw at your own pace during this in-person sketching program at Frick Madison.
Art materials will be provided and participants will be encouraged to sketch independently in the Second Floor galleries. This program is free, but online registration is required; registration includes after-hours access to selected galleries.
The 36th Annual Miracle on Madison Avenue ~ December 3
The 36th Annual Miracle on Madison Avenue will take place on Saturday, December 3rd, with a roster of 66 participating stores who will donate 20% of the day’s sales to benefit pediatric programs of The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Holiday Night Market at Historic La Marqueta ~ December 3
This season’s edition returns Saturday, December 3, with an expanded number of vendors across three blocks of the market under the train tracks at Park Avenue, plus neighborhood-favorite DJs Stormin’ Norman, Ted Smooth and friends warming up the dance floor. This year, the Event is adding trolleys and on the last weekend, an ice skating rink under the new light installation at 125th Street!
NYC Unique Paper Fashion Show ~ December 3
This all-volunteer organized and run event, helps support Grandparents Around the World Grandparents Around the World Productions Inc. (GATW) is a membership based organization located in New York City. Incorporated in 2005 as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit New York State charitable organization, the Grandparents Organization has touched the lives of thousands.
New York Transit Museum Offering Holiday Nostalgia Rides ~ December 4
On Sunday, November 27th, December 4th, 11th and 18th, our beloved Train of Many Colors will operate along the 1 line, making express stops on the local track between the Chambers St and 137th St – City College St stations, from 10am to 5:30pm. Don’t miss your chance to travel through time – for just the cost of a MetroCard swipe or OMNY tap!
Car-Free Fifth Avenue from 49th~57th Street ~ December 4
For the first time ever, Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue will be closed to all vehicular traffic for three Sundays in December as part of a program called “Fifth Avenue for All.”
On December 4, 11, and 18 between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m., Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets will be pedestrian-only.
Free Holiday-Themed Walking Tours by Flatiron NoMad Partnership ~ December 4
The Flatiron NoMad Partnership, which provides free, year-round historic walking tours of the neighborhood, will offer special holiday-themed walking tours on three Sundays in December.
The holiday-themed tours will be held on December 4, 11, and 18. Tours start at 11:00 a.m. at the tip of the Flatiron Building at 23rd Street just east of Fifth Avenue. No advance registration is required.
Lincoln Center Unveils ‘Your Voices’ ~ December 6
In the spirit of the holiday season, Moët & Chandon is hosting a series of global celebrations in more than 20 cities around the world, bringing people together in celebration of connection and diversity. Of all cities, New York City in particular has a long-standing relationship with the Maison. As a hallmark of the occasion, Moët & Chandon has commissioned a public sculpture, “Your Voices” by British contemporary artist Es Devlin, installed on Lincoln Center’s Josie Robertson Plaza as a celebration of cultural connection in the most linguistically diverse place on the planet, New York, where over 700 languages are currently spoken.
Speaker Series: Harvey Stein ~ Coney Island On My Mind ~ December 7
Harvey Stein will share highlights from his 50 year photographic career, his fascination with Coney Island, photobook making and working in the long-term project mode. Harvey will share work from his tenth book Coney Island People 50 Years, published this September. Harvey is recognized for his strong and sensitive portraiture. December 7th at 5pm on Zoom. Be sure to Register for this Free Zoom event.
In Conversation ~ Amy Sherlock + Judith Tannenbaum on Betty Woodman at The Sculpture Center ~ December 8
Join us at 7 PM on Thursday, December 8 at SculptureCenter for Amy Sherlock and Judith Tannenbaum on Betty Woodman, a conversation discussing the artist’s life and work during the 1990s, a crucial period in her career.
Snowpeople & Holiday Lights Arrive in Meatpacking District ~ December 8
The Meatpacking Business Improvement District announced that its iconic holiday light display will return to the neighborhood with even more engaging elements. Back by popular demand, the District’s festive installation of lights, seasonal planters, iconic Snowpeople, the illuminated colonnade and more that are ripe for photo-ops will descend on the neighborhood’s streets starting Thursday, December 8 through mid-January 2023.
‘Mixed Media Street Art Exhibit #2’ at Hudson Yards Gallery ~ December 9
Following last-years hugely successful event, Hudson Yards Gallery will open its doors to the exhibition, Mixed Media Street Art Exhibit #2, with over 30 of NYC’s top street artists of varying disciplines including textural work, mixed media, and 3D sculptures. The Event will open to the public on December 9th. Opening Reception on December 8th with RSVP.
The Art Students League Annual Student Art Sale ~ December 9
The Art Students League’s Annual Student Art Sale is taking place from December 9 to 23 at the institution’s Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery (215 West 57th Street). The exhibition and sale features affordable works by League artists and provides art lovers the unique opportunity to begin or grow their personal collection or shop for one-of-a-kind holiday gifts for friends and family.
The exhibition is free and open to the public with new work added each day—with more than 500 original works of art including paintings, prints, and sculptures on a rotating display. Prices start at $50 and will not exceed $1,500. All purchases directly support emerging artists and the League’s mission to offer accessible, affordable, high-quality arts education and instruction.
Deconstructing Power: W.E.B. DuBois at the 1900 World’s Fair at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum ~ December 9
At the Paris World Fair of 1900, W.E.B. Du Bois used groundbreaking statistical graphics to document the accomplishments of Black Americans and life inside “the Veil” of systemic oppression. The Library of Congress will lend a selection of these rare data visualizations to Cooper Hewitt’s Recharting Modern Designexhibition, allowing visitors to see them in person for the first time in 120 years. The data graphics of W.E.B. Du Bois will appear in dialogue with decorative objects from the fair, connecting Du Bois’s “color line” to the “whiplash line” of Art Nouveau.
Adam Handler ~ Peter Opheim: Warriors and Ghosts at GR Gallery ~ December 9
GR Gallery is pleased to present “Warriors and Ghosts”, a primary duo exhibition of Peter Opheim and Adam Handler. The show will feature a total of 21 works, individually created by the two artists appositely for this occasion, that will challenge the exhibition title by unleashing a variety of ghostly paintings and abstraction filled warrior-like figures that will captivate and invite viewers into an experience that illuminates a vibrancy of colors and textures.
DUMBO ~ Shop the Studios for the Holidays ~ December 10
Just in time for the holidays, 35 artists in DUMBO will open their studios to the public to sell their art on Sunday, December 12. Organized by the DUMBO Improvement District and Art in DUMBO, Shop the Studios is an opportunity for locals and tourists alike to connect directly with artists working in DUMBO, Brooklyn, explore their studios, and take home an original artwork priced for the holidays.
Night Market at Historic La Marqueta ~ December 10
This year, there will be more family fun than ever before — including visits with Santa all three weekends, a bounce house and Harlem Night Market 360-degree photo booth.
On December 10, take a trolley from the market to El Museo del Barrio and the East Harlem Holiday Tree.
New York Transit Museum Offering Holiday Nostalgia Rides ~ December 11
On Sunday, November 27th, December 4th, 11th and 18th, our beloved Train of Many Colors will operate along the 1 line, making express stops on the local track between the Chambers St and 137th St – City College St stations, from 10am to 5:30pm. Don’t miss your chance to travel through time – for just the cost of a MetroCard swipe or OMNY tap!
Car-Free Fifth Avenue from 49th~57th Streets ~ December 11
For the first time ever, Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue will be closed to all vehicular traffic for three Sundays in December as part of a program called “Fifth Avenue for All.”
On December 4, 11, and 18 between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m., Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets will be pedestrian-only.
Broadway’s Best for Parkinson’s ~ December 14
The winter holidays are a time when we celebrate light and illuminate the darkness. Anxiety, depression, and isolation can be heightened by Parkinson’s. On Wednesday, December 14, the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan (MMJCCM) will present a free, holiday virtual event, Broadway’s Best for Parkinson’s: It Takes A Village: Celebrating the Dark & Light of the Holidays Together, which will guide attendees on how to celebrate the holiday and build a community to help combat these tendencies and continue to live a vibrant life.
Night Market at Historic La Marqueta ~ December 17
On December 17, hop the trolley to our pop-up ice skating rink at Uptown Grand Central’s 125th Street community plaza, which now features a new light installation by NightSeeing called “Uptown Flash.”
What’s The Point? Needle Art of Kevin Rustik ~ December 17
If you happen to be in Hell’s Kitchen this week and next, here’s a stocking stuffer from me to you. Needlework artist Kevin Lustik current has a small exhibition of his work at Jadeite Galleries through January 3rd entitled What’s the Point? The Needle Art of Kevin Lustik.
Car-Free Fifth Avenue from 49th~57th Streets ~ December 18
For the first time ever, Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue will be closed to all vehicular traffic for three Sundays in December as part of a program called “Fifth Avenue for All.”
On December 4, 11, and 18 between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m., Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets will be pedestrian-only.
New York Transit Museum Offering Holiday Nostalgia Rides ~ December 18
On Sunday, November 27th, December 4th, 11th and 18th, our beloved Train of Many Colors will operate along the 1 line, making express stops on the local track between the Chambers St and 137th St – City College St stations, from 10am to 5:30pm. Don’t miss your chance to travel through time – for just the cost of a MetroCard swipe or OMNY tap!
Lighting of the Menorah at Grand Army Plaza Brooklyn & NYC ~ December 20
Witness the lighting of the world’s largest Hanukkah menorahs at sundown during the Jewish festival of lights. Both Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn and Grand Army Plaza in Midtown compete for that title with their 32-foot-high, 4,000-pound steel menorahs. In both locations, lightings take place at different times throughout the week, so check the website. In Brooklyn, lightings are accompanied by live music, hot latkes and gifts for children.
‘Love Letters from the Cold War’ Streaming Through Metropolitan Playhouse ~ December 25-31
John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev maintained official but personal correspondence that reveals respectful adversaries with a common goal: to stop the world tumbling into Armageddon. From the failed invasion at the Bay of Pigs through the Cuban Missile Crisis, a first nuclear summit, and the building of the Berlin Wall, all with the Space Race a proxy background battle, the two men form a precarious partnership, sundered with Kennedy’s assassination.
Merry Christmas ~ December 25
Life stream Mass from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC.
‘Turn Every Page’ at Film Forum ~ December 30
Directed by Gottlieb’s daughter Lizzie, the film is a literati dream – as Caro tours Johnson’s roots in the Texas hill country and pecks away 24/7 on his Smith Corona Electra 210, locking horns with Gottlieb on matters big and small. A vigorous debate over Caro’s use of semicolons is a hilarious highlight.
In addition, on Friday, December 30th at the 7:45pm show, a Q&A with Director Lizzie Gottlieb and her subject, Robert Gottlieb.
KWANZAA: A Regeneration Celebration at The Apollo Theater ~ December 30
The Annual Kwanzaa celebration returns to The Apollo Theater as an in-person event for the first time in two years, offering attendees the opportunity to experience the cultural importance and collective Black joy that characterize the holiday. Kwanzaa: A Regeneration Celebration will take place on Friday, December 30 at 7:30pm EST, anchored by performances from renowned New York-based dance company Abdel Salaam’s Forces of Nature Dance Theatre—the creative force behind the 40-year tradition which blends contemporary modern, West African, house, and hip-hop dance styles—as well as special guest artist, Haitian American singer Pauline Jean. Also featured will be the young people of the Forces of Nature/Harlem Children’s Zone Youth Arts Academy of Dance and Wellness, performing under the direction of Jae Ponder.
Have you Made a Wish Yet? Head to Times Square’s Wishing Wall
Each year, thousands flock to Times Square for the annual New Years Eve Confetti + Ball Drop. Each piece of falling confetti is a hope and a wish for the new year ahead, written by thousands of people on the NYE Wishing Wall.
New Year’s Eve Times Square Ball Drop ~ December 31
Revelers began celebrating New Year’s Eve in Times Square as early as 1904, but it was in 1907 that the New Year’s Eve Ball made its maiden descent from the flagpole atop One Times Square. Seven versions of the Ball have been designed to signal the New Year.
Times Square invites revelers back to watch the Ball Drop in person or on a broadcast for television or internet. In-person information Here.
New Year’s Eve Fireworks in Prospect Park ~ December 31
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, NYC Parks and Prospect Park Alliance will present Brooklyn’s most spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks celebration at Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Park. This year’s display marks the triumphant return of a beloved, four-decade community tradition for the first time since 2020. This is a Free Event with RSVP.
Still on View:
Naritaka Satoh: Reveal at GR Gallery on view through December 3, 2022
GR gallery will open its doors to “Reveal”, Naritaka Satoh first solo exhibition in the U.S. and with the gallery. Spreading around the whole gallery space, the show will present fourteen artworks executed with the artist signature technique combining acrylic and pencil on wood panel.
Cristina Iglesias: Landscape and Memory in Madison Square Park on view through December 4, 2022
Landscape and memory Installation 1; ‘Landscape and Memory’ (2022) installation in progress in Madison Square Park with Cristina Iglesias. Photo credit: Lynda Churilla
Spanish artist Cristina Iglesias invites the public to consider the forgotten terrains and geographic history of New York City in a new public art installation opening this June, her first major temporary public art project in the United States. Landscape and Memory places five bronze sculptural pools, flowing with water, into Madison Square Park’s Oval Lawn, harkening back to when the Cedar Creek coursed across the land where the park stands today. Building on Iglesias’ practice of unearthing the forgotten and excavating natural history, Landscape and Memory resurfaces in the imaginations of contemporary viewers the now-invisible force of this ancient waterway.
Frank Moore: Five Paintings at David Zwirner on view to December 10, 2022
David Zwirner is pleased to announce Five Paintings, a selection of exceptional works by the late painter Frank Moore (1953–2002) drawn from an important private European collection. For this exhibition, five paintings and four works on paper will be on view at the 34 East 69th Street gallery. Made in the artist’s downtown New York studio and in his upstate home in Deposit, New York, these jewel-like pictures are among the best known that Moore created in his brief lifetime and among the most documented—portraying entire ecosystems within their inventive frames, which serve to extend the artwork’s confines beyond the support.
Wyatt Kahn: Life in the Abstract in City Hall Park on view through December 11, 2022
Wyatt Kahn, “The Friends,” 2021, Courtesy of the artist, Galerie Eva Presenhuber and Xavier Hufkens Presented by Public Art Fund as part of Wyatt Kahn: Life in the Abstract on view at City Hall Park, New York City, June 8, 2022 ~ February 26, 2022. Photo: Nicholas Knight, Courtesy Public Art Fund
Public Art Fund is pleased to present Life in the Abstract, an exhibition of new large-scale sculptures by artist Wyatt Kahn. It will bring seven vibrant rust red Cor-Ten steel artworks to City Hall Park for Khan’s first exhibition in public space. Kahn has adapted forms previously explored in his canvas wall works, combining elements of geometric abstraction with playful “readymade” objects from everyday life like a comb and a phone. Juxtapositions such as glasses resting on abstract shapes and a foot about to crush a lightbulb produce playful narrative compositions. These new works expand the lineage of modernist public sculpture, while the significance of each artwork takes on personal meaning and resonance for the viewer. Life in the Abstract is the New York City-based artist’s first public art exhibition and will be on view from June 8 through December 11, 2022 at City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan.
Sarah Dwyer: Clatter…..THUD at Jane Lombard Gallery on view December 17, 2022
Clatter…..THUD is an exhibition of new paintings by UK-based Irish artist Sarah Dwyer. The artist’s third solo show with the gallery introduces figurative abstractions that grapple with the ever-changing body and the physical manifestation of the psyche. Canvases thrum with a freewheeling, helter-skelter conversation between familiar forms, worked and reworked tirelessly by Dwyer. The artist’s intuitive use of color takes on a presence and character of its own, a masterful counterpoint to the rhythm of gesture and line. Woven throughout the narrative fabric of each piece, Dwyer tells stories drawn from her own life, poetry, Jungian archetypes, and literary influences.
Ann Shelton: i am an old phenomenon at Denny Dimin Gallery on view to December 22, 2022
Denny Dimin Gallery will open its doors to Ann Shelton’s third solo exhibition with the gallery, i am an old phenomenon open from November 4 to December 22, 2022. Shelton is recognized as one of New Zealand’s leading photographic artists and will have her first institutional solo exhibition in the United States in 2024.
Sophia-Yemisi Adeyemo: Earth & Iron: Archival Visions of Land and Struggle on view at BRIC House through December 23, 2022
Featuring new work by 2021-22 BRIClab: Contemporary Artist Sophia-Yemisi Adeyemo, Earth & Iron: Archival Visions of Land and Struggle brings together past and present notions of revolution, liberation, and land sovereignty. With painted and collaged images based on early twentieth-century colonial photography taken in West Africa and the Caribbean, Adeyemo-Ross reaches into the past to envision alternative futures.
Rodrigo Valenzuela: New Works for a Post Worker’s World at BRIC House on view through December 23, 2022
Rodrigo Valenzuela will construct an architectural setting for his photographs in the Gallery at BRIC House that will symbolically evoke issues arising from his imagery. This sculptural aspect to the exhibition will itself reflect the artist’s own labor, and harken back to his experience as a construction worker upon his arrival as an immigrant in the United States. In addition to photography, the exhibition will also include a new video and series of sculptures by the artist. The exhibition will be accompanied by public programs and by an illustrated catalogue with an essay by curator Elizabeth Ferrer. On view September 22, 2022.
Angel Otero. Swimming Where Time Was at Hauser & Wirth on view to December 23, 2022
Angel Otero will present his first major solo exhibition with Hauser & Wirth, ‘Swimming Where Time Was.’ Filling the 5th floor of the gallery’s 22nd street location, this new body of work marks a turning point in the artist’s career, revealing a new sensibility that has emerged over the last few years. These vibrant large-scale canvases merge the figurative and abstract sides of Otero’s innovative technical practice, advancing the artist’s exploration of oil paint as a medium and a conduit for self-reflection and analysis. Using his personal history to make sense of the current moment, these new works intensify the artist’s uncanny ability to convey memory and history through materiality.
John CRASH Matos: Shape of Things to Come at JoAnne Artman Gallery on view through December 30, 2022
JoAnne Artman Gallery will present SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME, featuring works by John “CRASH” Matos. In a playful evolution of color and form, CRASH’s recent works are spray painted on custom-made, shaped canvases. Emphasizing silhouette and the external form, he presents new dynamic compositions that meld the versatility of his canvas medium with the layered depth of sculpture. Wrapping around the edges as if spilling on to the wall, vibrant pigment and decisive lines are barely contained to the planes of each painted surface. An allusion to stylistic progression as well as the contoured canvases, SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME delivers immersive works with steadily unfolding narratives.
Hippo Ballerina & Friends on View in Pershing Square West Plaza through December 2022
Cavalier Gallery is pleased to reveal the return of Hippo Ballerina. The iconic bronze sculpture, installed in New York City’s Pershing Square Plaza West located on the west side of Park Avenue between East 41st and East 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. Created by Danish artist Bjørn Okholm Skaarup, the monumental sculpture will be accompanied by Hippo Ballerina, pirouette and Rhino Harlequin, pirouette permitted as part of the New York City Department of Transportation’s Art Program.
Shoes: anatomy, identity, magic on view at The Museum at FIT through December 31, 2022
The Museum at FIT presents Shoes: Anatomy, Identity, Magic, an innovative exhibition that explores our physical, social, and psychological relationship with footwear. Curated by Dr. Valerie Steele, MFIT director and chief curator, and Colleen Hill, curator of costume and accessories, the exhibition features more than 300 of the 5,000 pairs of shoes, boots, sandals, and sneakers in the museum’s permanent collection, aka “the closet.”
Hall des Lumières on view through December 31, 2022
Culturespaces, the European creator and manager behind the critically acclaimed Atelier des Lumières in Paris, has partnered with IMG to open the Hall des Lumières digital art center in New York on September 14, 2022.
Figuratively: Real and Imagined at Living with Art Salon on view to January 2, 2023
Living with Art Salon will open its doors to the exhibition, ‘Figuratively: Real and Imagined,’ where art explores the figurative work created by four New York-based female artists.
Each artist renders the body differently ~ at times, literally, and often figuratively, expressing fantasies and emotions often in response to social norms that inherently compromise the day-to-day existence of women.
Sacred Pause, Sacred Fertilizer in Nevelson Chapel on view to january 4, 2023
During the COVID-19 pandemic crisis (and social justice movements which ignited during the same period), humankind faced a torrent of emotions ~ sadness, grief, rage, fear, anxiety, and constant uncertainty. Nineteen female-identifying artists offer witness, through personal statements and artworks produced during this historic period, on what was awakened in their practice (and within) when they ceded to what presented in the pause.
Ariana Papademetropoulos: Baby Alone in Babylone at Vito Schnabel on view through January 7, 2023
Vito Schnabel Gallery is pleased to present Ariana Papademetropoulos: Baby Alone in Babylone, an exhibition of new paintings that find the Los Angeles- based artist drawing upon 15th century lore of the mythical unicorn. In her exploration of this theme, Papademetropoulos considers iconography from two celebrated tapestry series of the late Middle Ages: The Lady and the Unicorn (Musée National du Moyen Âge, Paris), an allegorical fable of the five senses, and The Hunt of the Unicorn(The Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), a narrative unfolding of the swift, wild horned creature who could only be tamed by a virgin maiden.
Self Power | Self Play at Museum of Sex on view through January 9, 2023
The Museum of Sex is pleased to announce Self Power | Self Play: 50 years of Erotic Portraiture by Linda Troeller. For half a century, artist Linda Troeller (b. 1949) has used the camera as a tool for sensual empowerment. The first museum retrospective of Troeller’s work in New York City, Self Power | Self Play will feature over sixty erotic photographs on loan from the artist’s studio and Bryn Mawr College Special Collections which highlight her radical and playful photographic practice. The museum will host a private opening reception on the evening of Monday, October 17th and the exhibition will be open to the public on Wednesday, October 19th.
Robert Colescott: Womenn on view at Venus Over Manhattan, Great Jones through January 14, 2023
Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present Robert Colescott: Women, an exhibition organized to trace the development of the artist’s depictions of female subjects over the course of his sixty-year career. Serving as a coda to the recent, critically-lauded traveling museum retrospective Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott, this presentation charts the evolution of Colescott’s ambitious practice through some thirty works produced between 1955 and 1996.
Healing Practices: Stories from Himalayan Americans will be on view at The Rubin Museum of Art to January 16, 2023
On March 18, 2022, the Rubin Museum of Art will present “Healing Practices: Stories from Himalayan Americans,” a new exhibition highlighting the diverse ways that Tibetan Buddhist artworks and practices have served as roadmaps to well-being. The exhibition juxtaposes objects from the Rubin Museum’s collection with stories from Himalayan Americans, revealing the many ways these living traditions are transformed and adopted for today’s world, especially in times of crisis. “Healing Practices: Stories from Himalayan Americans” is the Rubin Museum’s first collaborative exhibition with a Community Advisory Group and will be on view March 18, 2022 to January 16, 2023.
Peter Saul: Early Works on Paper (1957 ~ 1965) on view at Venus Over Manhattan 65th Street to January 21, 2023
Peter Saul: Early Works on Paper (1957 – 1965) will be on view at Venus Over Manhattan’s uptown location at 120 East 65th Street from November 14th, 2022, through January 21st, 2023. The gallery will publish a catalogue in conjunction with the exhibition, featuring new texts by Max Hollein, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and noted curator Robert Storr.
Nari Ward: Home of the Brave at The Vilcek Foundation on view to February 3, 2023
The Vilcek Foundation is pleased to present Nari Ward: Home of the Brave, Ward’s first solo exhibition with the foundation. The exhibition, curated by Vilcek Foundation President Rick Kinsel, will be on view from May 31, 2022, to February 3, 2023.
Lucio Fontana: Sculpture at Hauser & Wirth on view to February 4, 2023
Hauser & Wirth New York will stage the second part of a trilogy of exhibitions curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, in collaboration with the Fondazione Lucio Fontana. Dedicated to Fontana’s extraordinary experimentation in sculpture, this tailor-made presentation will take place at the gallery’s uptown location on November 3, 2022, the very same building where in 1961 Fontana’s first solo shows in the United States were held concurrently at the Martha Jackson and David Anderson galleries.
Theaster Gates: Young Lords and Their Traces at The New Museum on view to February 5, 2023
The New Museum will present the first American museum survey exhibition devoted to Theaster Gates, encompassing the full range of the artist’s practice across a variety of media creating communal spaces for preservation, remembrance, and exchange. This landmark exhibition will be accompanied by a presentation of newly commissioned works by Vivian CaccuriandMiles Greenberg exploring the relationship between bodies and sound waves.
Just Above Midtown at MoMA on view through February 18, 2023
They say if you remember the 60s & 70s in NYC, you weren’t really there. With that it mind, The Museum of Modern Art will refresh our memories with the exhibition, Just Above Midtown: 1974 to the Present, on view from October 9, 2022, through February 18, 2023.
Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle at Museum of Arts and Design on view through February 19, 2023
On view from September 10, 2022 through February 19, 2023, the exhibition brings together more than 80 of the artist’s creations for stage, spectacles, and street theater, alongside a variety of environments, ephemera, material samples, photography, and video.
The Eveillard Gift at Frick Madison through February 26, 2023
Brush and brown wash on cream laid paper 8 1/16 x 5 5/8 inches
Promised Gift from the Collection of Elizabeth and Jean-Marie Eveillard
Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.
The major fall exhibition at Frick Madison (the temporary home of The Frick Collection during renovation of its historic buildings) presents the largest and most significant promised gift of drawings and pastels in the institution’s history. Assembled by Elizabeth “Betty” and Jean-Marie Eveillard, avid collectors of drawings and pastels, the exhibition includes European works ranging in date from the end of the fifteenth century to the twentieth century and representing artists working in France, Britain, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands.
The Zoo by artist Idriss B On Park Avenue in Murray Hill on view through February 2023
If you are waking up in Murray Hill today, you will be delighted to find whimsical creatures along the Park Avenue medium between 34th and 38th Streets. Patrons of Park Avenue (POPA) invited French artist Idriss B to create a one-of-a-kind urban jungle as an inaugural installation.
At the Dawn of a New Age: Early Twentieth-Century Modernism at The Whitney on view to March, 2023
The Whitney Museum of American Art presents At the Dawn of a New Age: Early Twentieth-Century American Modernism, an exhibition of over sixty works by more than forty-five artists that highlights the complexity of American art produced between 1900 and 1930. The exhibition showcases how American artists responded to the realities of a rapidly modernizing period through an array of abstract styles and media. At the Dawn of a New Age features artworks drawn primarily from the Whitney’s collection, including new acquisitions and works that have not been on view at the Museum for decades.
Edward Hopper’s New York at The Whitney on view through March 5, 2023
Edward Hopper’s New York, on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art from October 19, 2022, through March 5, 2023, offers an unprecedented examination of Hopper’s life and work in the city that he called home for nearly six decades (1908–67). The exhibition charts the artist’s enduring fascination with the city through more than 200 paintings, watercolors, prints, and drawings from the Whitney’s preeminent collection of Hopper’s work, loans from public and private collections, and archival materials including printed ephemera, correspondence, photographs, and notebooks. From early sketches to paintings from his late in his career, Edward Hopper’s New York reveals a vision of the metropolis that is as much a manifestation of Hopper himself as it is a record of a changing city, whose perpetual and sometimes tense reinvention feels particularly relevant today.
Reynier Leyva Novo: Methuselah at El Museo del Barrio on view to March 26, 2023
El Museo del Barrio is pleased to present Reynier Leyva Novo: Methuselah, from October 27, 2022 to March 26, 2023. Conceived by the Cuban-born and Houston based artist Reynier Levya Novo, the digital artwork virtually reproduces the 5000-kilometer transnational migratory journey of a single monarch butterfly, tracking its travel from southern Canada across the United States to Mexico. Embodied through the life of a virtual avatar, the epic journey is hosted and reproduced in real time on a specially designed, open-access, dedicated website. Commissioned by El Museo del Barrio with the support of VIA Art Fund, the in-person mixed-reality presentation at El Museo debuts in conjunction with the upcoming Fall exhibition, Juan Francisco Elso: Por América.
New York City Fire Museum Presents: Firehouse ~ Photography of Jill Freeedman on view through April 2, 2023
The New York City Fire Museum is presenting an exhibition showcasing award-winning photographer Jill Freedman’s moving collection of photographs documenting New York City firefighters on the job in the ‘70s. Firehouse: The Photography of Jill Freedman is open now through April 2, 2023.
Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art at the Met through April 2, 2023
In Maya art—one of the greatest artistic traditions of the ancient Americas—the gods are depicted in all stages of life: as infants, as adults at the peak of their maturity and influence, and finally, as they age. The gods could perish, and some were born anew, providing a model of regeneration and resilience. Opening November 21, 2022, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the exhibition Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art will bring together nearly 100 rarely seen masterpieces and recent discoveries in diverse media—from the monumental to the miniature—that depict episodes in the life cycle of the gods, from the moment of their birth to resplendent transformations as blossoming flowers or fearsome creatures of the night.
no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria at The Whitney on view through April 23, 2023
no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria is organized to coincide with the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria—a category 5 storm that hit Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. The exhibition explores how artists have responded to the transformative years since that event by bringing together more than fifty artworks made over the last five years by an intergenerational group of more than fifteen artists from Puerto Rico and the diaspora. no existe un mundo poshuracán—a verse borrowed from Puerto Rican poet Raquel Salas Rivera—is the first scholarly exhibition focused on Puerto Rican art to be organized by a large U.S. museum in nearly half a century.
Hew Locke: Gilt is The Met Facade on view through May 22, 2023
The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke has been selected to create new works for The Met Fifth Avenue’s facade niches, the third in a new series of site-specific commissions for the exterior of the Museum. The Facade Commission: Hew Locke, Gilt will be on view September 16, 2022 through May 22, 2023.
Deconstructing Power: W.E.B. DuBois at the 1900 World’s Fair at Cooper Hewitt on view through May 29, 2023
At the Paris World Fair of 1900, W.E.B. Du Bois used groundbreaking statistical graphics to document the accomplishments of Black Americans and life inside “the Veil” of systemic oppression. The Library of Congress will lend a selection of these rare data visualizations to Cooper Hewitt’s Recharting Modern Design exhibition, allowing visitors to see them in person for the first time in 120 years. The data graphics of W.E.B. Du Bois will appear in dialogue with decorative objects from the fair, connecting Du Bois’s “color line” to the “whiplash line” of Art Nouveau.
Merriem Bennani, Windy on view on The High Line to May 31, 2023
Windy is a spinning sculpture in the shape of a tornado made from black foam. The work plays with various traditions and ambiguities of public sculpture. In many cases, the public is asked to walk around public sculpture, taking in its grandeur from a safe distance. Bennani’s sculpture spins itself, and at a speed that makes the details of the work almost impossible to grasp—both visually and physically. In her conceptualization of the work, Bennani was inspired by the dynamism and constant movement on the High Line, wishing to make a sculpture that could capture and work within this urban energy. On view to May 31, 2023.
Charles Gaines: Moving Chains (Chapter Two, Governors Island on view to June 2023
Presented as the second chapter of The American Manifest, sited at the base of Outlook Hill on Governors Island with views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Lower Manhattan, Moving Chains — a 100 foot-long immersive, kinetic sculpture — evokes the hull of a ship reverberating with the low rumble of nine chains churning overhead, while visitors pass through below. Eight of the chains move along at the pace of New York Harbor’s currents, while a central ninth chain moves noticeably faster, at the speed of the ships and barges that have traveled the city’s waterways over centuries. Moving Chains illuminates the exchange of people, capital, and goods cycling between the north and south that made up the slave trade, while calling attention to the political, judicial, and economic operations established in this country’s foundational financial system.
Gateway to Himalayan Art at Rubin Museum on view through June 4, 2023
Gateway to Himalayan Art, on view at Rubin Museum of Art through June 4, 2023, introduces viewers to the main forms, concepts, meanings, and traditions of Himalayan art represented in the Rubin Museum collection.
Fred Wilson: Mind Forged Manacles/Manacle Forged Minds on view at Columbus Park through June 27, 2023
More Art unveiled Mind Forged Manacles/Manacle Forged Minds, Fred Wilson’s first ever large-scale public sculpture, opening at the plaza in Columbus Park, Brooklyn on Tuesday June 28, 2022 and closing a year later, in June 2023. The installation features a 10-foot-tall sculpture, composed of layers of decorative ironwork, fencing and statues of African figures. This project is funded in part through the Downtown Brooklyn + Dumbo Art Fund, under New York State’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI), and is exhibited through NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program.
Bharti Khêr: Ancestor on the Doris C. Freedman Plaza through August 27, 2023
Photo: Nicholas Knight, Courtesy of Public Art Fund, NY
Depicting a universal mother figure linking our cultural and personal pasts and futures, Ancestor is Kher’s most ambitious work to date. The sculpture stems from the artist’s ongoing “Intermediaries” series in which Kher reassembles small, broken clay figurines of humans, animals, and mythical beings into hybrid figures that defy a fixed identity. Brought to life at a monumental scale, Ancestor embodies the complexity and potential of the “Intermediaries”, and of Indic and global traditions of creator deities that challenge identities by bringing together male and female into a single philosophical form. Ancestor, however, is a resolutely feminine figure. Adorned with the heads of her 23 children that extend from her body, she embodies multiculturalism, pluralism, and interconnectedness. They manifest a sense of belonging and celebrate the mother as a keeper of wisdom and the eternal source of creation and refuge.
Fanny Allié: Shadows in Bella Abzug Park on view through October 2023
The Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance (HYHK) today announces Shadows, an installation of ten new site-specific sculptures created by mixed-media artist Fanny Allié for Bella Abzug Park (542 W 36th St., New York, NY 10018) and inspired by the workers who maintain it. Shadows invites people to experience the park—a picturesque public green space surrounded by urban bustle—in a new way, as a place for compelling, free art.
The Girl Puzzle, Roosevelt Island on view ~ To Be Announced
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) has selected Amanda Matthews/Prometheus Art to construct the Nellie Bly Monument on the northern end of Roosevelt Island at Lighthouse Park. The sculptural installation will be known as “The Girl Puzzle” and invites the viewer to experience many facets of Nellie Bly’s talent, conviction and compassion. The ground-breaking journalist and women’s rights advocate exposed the horrors of the Blackwell Island Insane Asylum in 1887 on Roosevelt Island.
The Met’s Great Hall will Display Ancient Maya Stone Monuments from Republic of Guatemala until 2024
The two massive stelae—both significant long-term loans from the Republic of Guatemala—feature life-sized representations of influential Indigenous American rulers: a king, K’inich Yo’nal Ahk II (ca. A.D. 664–729), and queen, Ix Wak Jalam Chan (Lady Six Sky) (ca. A.D. 670s–741), one of the most powerful women known by name from the ancient Americas. The installation heralds the upcoming exhibition Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art, which is scheduled to open in fall 2022 and will highlight Maya visual narratives featuring a cast of gods: sacred beings that are personified elements of the cosmos, nature, and agriculture. The Great Hall display is also the first in a series of special exhibitions and installations that will present art of the ancient Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, and Oceania throughout The Met’s galleries while the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing is closed for a renovation project that will reenvision these collections for a new generation of visitors.
See you in 2023!