NYC's Best Art Exhibits Now: Dolls, Manga, and More

Condé Nast Traveler has rounded up the current art exhibits worth seeing in New York City, from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Here is what is on view and when.

Arthur Jafa and Bowery history at the New Museum

The New Museum's first solo exhibit of artist and cinematographer Arthur Jafa, "I Am Tony," covers four decades of his work. It includes his eight-minute video montage "Love is the Message, the Message is Death," which samples music videos, newscasts and sporting events to trace the Black experience. On the second floor, "Bowery: Devil's Mile" covers four centuries of the lower Manhattan street's history, from a Lenape footpath to a punk and post-rock hub. The exhibit runs through January 3, 2027; the Bowery show runs through January 31, 2027, Condé Nast Traveler reports.

Taryn Simon's layered storytelling at the Guggenheim

Taryn Simon's "Father Country I Do Love You" fills the Guggenheim's rotunda with thousands of images, text, video and sculpture. It follows an anonymous ex-FBI agent and the characters and events he crossed paths with. The installation is the largest debut work the museum has hosted. It runs through March 14, 2027, according to Condé Nast Traveler.

Sentient Earth at Amant

Amant in East Williamsburg hosts "Sentient Earth," a campus-wide installation with 28 artists imagining what the planet would say if it were sentient. Works include blister-pack pill cases as artifacts and objects resembling mining tools. Admission is free. The show runs through February 14, 2027, Condé Nast Traveler reports.

Surrealist books and feminist forensics

At the New York Historical, "The Surrealist Book: Tomorrow Lives in Mirrors" features rare works by André Breton, Max Ernst and Claude Cahun. Cahun's photomontages, which played with gender, are a highlight. On the second floor, Teresa Margolles' "Aproximación al lugar de los hechos" uses shattered glass and soil to trace femicide and systemic violence in the U.S. A companion exhibit, "En el lugar de los hechos," runs at MoMA PS1 in Queens through February. The Surrealist show runs through January 23, 2027; the Margolles show runs through summer 2027, Condé Nast Traveler reports.

Doll Dressing at FIT

The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology's "Doll Dressing" spans three centuries of dolls as muses. It includes brands like Margiela, Loewe and Marc Jacobs, alongside Barbie, Bratz and 1960s icon Twiggy. The exhibit runs through January 3, 2027, according to Condé Nast Traveler.

Art of Manga and Hopi Kachina Dolls at the Brooklyn Museum

"Art of Manga" is the first major exhibit on the genre in the Americas, with over 600 drawings from creators like Hirohiko Araki ("JoJo's Bizarre Adventure"), Eiichiro Oda ("One Piece") and Junji Ito. On the fourth floor, "Hopi Kachina Dolls" presents 53 painted and carved wooden figures given to Hopi girls and women. The Manga show runs through January 31, 2027; the Kachina dolls run through June 27, 2027, Condé Nast Traveler reports.

Dancing through New York's 1970s

The New York Historical Society's "You Should Be Dancing: New York, 1976 and Beyond" looks at disco, punk and hip hop scenes in a bankrupt city. Artifacts include an awning from CBGB, handwritten lyrics by Patti Smith and Richard Hell, and a Studio 54 invitation. The exhibit runs through April 2, 2027, Condé Nast Traveler reports.

• art exhibits
• Brooklyn Museum
• Condé Nast Traveler
• Guggenheim
• museums
• New York City