Best Contemporary Art Exhibitions in New York this Winter Season

The holiday season is upon us once again, and the festive light installations and window displays seen throughout the world render cities into kitschy works of art worthy of greeting cards. We’re not knocking it; we couldn’t live without our yearly dose of mulled wine and ice skating under fairy lights. But as the year winds to a close and we consume more mince pies and cider than our bellies can take, we’re left wondering if we’ve consumed enough art and culture.

Read on to see what exhibitions you should be visiting. May your holidays be the perfect mix of cosy and stimulating.

Martha Rosler: Irrespective at Jewish Museum

One of the most important feminist voices of the past decades, Martha Rosler's work critiques the social and political issues surrounding mass cultural modes of representation. Irrespective features both her well-known works as well as rarely seen pieces, spanning her career from 1965 to the present.

Saturday - Tuesday 11 am - 5:45 pm, Thursday 11 am - 8 pm, Friday 11 am - 4 pm.
Christmas Day and New Year’s Day 11 am - 4 pm

Everything Is Connected: Art and Conspiracy at Met Breuer

Divided into two sections, Everything Is Connected: Art and Conspiracy explores the hidden operations of power and suspicion between government and citizen, with the first section uncovering hidden webs of deceit from public records, while the second part dives into fantastical yet revealing works.

Tuesday – Thursday 10 am – 5:30 pm, Friday - Saturday 10 am – 9 pm, Sunday 10 am – 5:30 pm.
Closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts at MoMA PS1

The first comprehensive retrospective of American artist Bruce Bauman in over 20 years, Disappearing Acts provides a singular opportunity to experience the artist's wide range of mediums, reflecting on his exploration on the figurative and of withdrawal.

Thursday - Monday 12 pm - 6 pm.
Closed on Christmas and New Year's Day.

Sarah Lucas: Au Naturel at New Museum

Sarah Lucas, one of Britain's most influential artists, has created distinctive and provocative work that subverts traditional notions of gender, sexuality, and identity. Au Naturel, the first American survey of her work, is a large-scale exhibition that includes a comprehensive selection of her works, including sculptures, photographs, and installations.

Tuesday & Wednesday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.Thursday 11 a.m.–9 p.m.Friday–Sunday11 a.m.–6 p.m
Closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Jose Picayo's "25 Years of Polaroids" at Robin Rice Gallery

25 Years of Polaroids sees artist Jose Picayo seeking to revive the concept of unadulterated beauty captured as a single moment in time, rejecting any use of digital mediums to maintain a magic that the realness of digital dissolves.

Wednesday - Sunday 12 pm - 7 pm.
Chrismas TBC

Programmed: Rules, Codes, and Choreographies in Art, 1965–2018 at Whitney Museum

This exhibition establishes connections between works of art based on instructions, spanning over fifty years of conceptual, video, and computational art. Taking "programmed" as the use of instructions and rule sets, Programmed: Rules, Codes, and Choreographies in Art, 1965–2018 features works from the Whitney collection to show how the ideas found in the predecessors of computational art evolved to inform current practices.

Monday 10:30 am - 6 pm, Wednesday - Thursday 10:30 am – 6 pm, Friday 10:30 am –10 pm, Saturday 10:30 am – 10 pm, Sunday 10:30 am – 6 pm.
Closed on Christmas Day.

One: Do Ho Suh at Brooklyn Museum of Art

Korean artist Do Ho Suh engages with migration and cultural displacement in his large-scale work for the exhibition One. Featuring a full-scale recreation of the artist's former apartment in the Chelsea neighbourhood of New York City, the piece highlights the important connections we make between physical places and memory.

Wednesday 11 am – 6 pm, Thursday 11 am–10 pm, Friday - Sunday 11 am – 6 pm.
Closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Sandy Di Yu is a London-based writer, art theorist and artist. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter, or visit her website.

Nina Cieminska is a London-based art theorist and researcher. Follow her on Instagram or Twitter.

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