Best art in New York: Critics' picks

Find the best art exhibitions and gallery shows in NYC this week, as chosen by Time Out's critics.

"Abstract Generation: Now in Print"

  • Price band: 2/4
  • Critics choice

Contemporary takes on abstraction in print provide the focus for this exhibition, featuring contributions by Cory Arcangel, Tauba Auerbach, Philippe Decrauzat, Liam Gillick, Wade Guyton, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, R. H. Quaytman and Haegue Yang.

  1. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) 11 W 53rd St, between Fifth and Sixth Aves, 10019
  2. Fri May 24 - Mon Jun 24
More info

"African Innovations"

  • Price band: 1/4
  • Critics choice

This long-term installation draws on the museum's impressive collection of African art, which spans 2,500 years and the entire continent. Approximately 200 works, arranged chronologically, will show the progression of ancient art to contemporary works in themes such as protection and beauty.

  1. Brooklyn Museum 200 Eastern Pkwy, at Washington Ave
  2. Fri May 24 - Sun Dec 29
More info

"Behind the Screen"

  • Price band: 1/4
  • Critics choice

At the museum’s core exhibit (which was completely updated during renovations), you can put sound effects into film scenes, insert your voice into a part of The Wizard of Oz, or even make a short animated film and e-mail it to yourself. Learn about live video editing in the TV control room, where

  1. Museum of the Moving Image 36-01 35th Ave, at 37th St, 11106
  2. Fri May 24 - Tue Dec 31
More info

"Bill Brandt: Shadow and Light"

  • Rated as: 5/5
  • Price band: 2/4
  • Critics choice

One of the giants of 20th-century photography, Bill Brandt (1904–1983) is not as well-known as his close contemporaries Henri Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evans. This exemplary exhibition of his work, curated by MoMA’s Sarah Hermanson Meister, reappraises Brandt’s long career, one whose distinct,

  1. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) 11 W 53rd St, between Fifth and Sixth Aves, 10019
  2. Fri May 24 - Mon Aug 12
More info

Bushwick Open Studios

  • Critics choice
  • Free

If you’ve always fancied a nose round this postindustrial neighborhood but weren’t sure where to start, begin at Bushwick Open Studios, a three-day fest that puts the nabe’s creative side on display. Start at the hubs set up in galleries and storefronts to help direct visitors to what’s on offer,

  1. Various locations
  2. Fri May 31 - Mon Jun 3
More info

Bruce Conner

  • Critics choice
  • Free

Conner (1933–2008), a legendary Bay Area artist and filmmaker, is recalled in this exhibition, which presents some of his inkblot drawings made between 1962 and 2000. On view as well is Conner's film Easter Morning, which was shot in San Francisco on a single day in 1966, but wasn't completed until

  1. Paula Cooper Gallery 521 W 21st St, between Tenth and Eleventh Aves
  2. Fri May 24 - Sat Jun 22
More info

"Edo Pop: The Graphic Impact of Japanese Prints"

  • Price band: 1/4
  • Critics choice

Everyone’s seen that picture of the wave with Mt. Fuji in the background. The color woodblock impression—The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, from the series “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” by Katsushika Hokusai—is an example of Edo period printmaking that has permeated Western consciousness. The famous

  1. Japan Society 333 E 47th St, between First and Second Aves, 10017
  2. Fri May 24 - Sun Jun 9
More info

"Giosetta Fioroni: L’Argento"

  • Critics choice
  • Free

The Drawing Center revisits the work of this 1960s-era Italian artist, whose insistently hand-rendered approach distinguishes her Pop Art–flavored works.

  1. The Drawing Center 35 Wooster St, between Broome and Grand Sts
  2. Fri May 24 - Sun Jun 2
More info

Orly Genger, Red, Yellow and Blue

  • Critics choice
  • Free

Intricately hand-knotted nautical rope is used to build this outdoor work, which encloses select areas of Madison Square Park with a series of undulating walls painted the primary colors.

  1. Madison Square Park E 23rd St to E 26th St, between Fifth and Madison Aves
  2. Sat May 25 - Sun Sep 8
More info

"Jack Goldstein x 10,000"

  • Critics choice

The Jewish Museum presents the first American retrospective of Jack Goldstein, the Canadian-born artist who became one of the most influential figures in postmodernism—before becoming one of its most forgotten. Enigmatic and mercurial, Goldstein was a member of CalArts' first graduating class, in

  1. The Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Ave, at 92nd St, 10128
  2. Sat May 25 - Sun Sep 29
More info
See more art in New York

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Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

  • Price band: 1/4
  1. 11 W 53rd St, (between Fifth and Sixth Aves), 10019
More info

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

  • Price band: 3/4
  • Critics choice
  1. 1000 Fifth Ave, (at 82nd St), 10028
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