Featured Events in New York in May 2025 (June Updated)

Gagosian presents Willem de Kooning: Endless Painting, organized with the support of The Willem de Kooning Foundation and curated by Cecilia Alemani, director and chief curator of High Line Art. It comprises paintings dating from 1944 through 1986 and two sculptures: Clamdigger (1972), and the monumental Standing Figure (1969–84). This is the first presentation at the newly renovated Chelsea gallery and follows Willem de Kooning and Italy, a significant presentation of paintings, sculptures, and drawings at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice last summer.

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) opened New York City’s original underground subway line in October 1904. While the city was one of the most diverse in the country, before the introduction of the subway, most New Yorkers were not in regular contact with people outside their own neighborhoods. Initially extending from the Bronx to Lower Manhattan (with service to Brooklyn beginning in 1908) and forming part of the wider transit system, the convenient and affordable IRT encouraged riders to travel beyond their communities for both work and leisure. In order to entice people to regularly use the subway, the IRT printed two in-car poster campaigns, The Elevated Express and The Subway Sun, that highlighted each borough’s unique attractions. Of these, The Subway Sun was especially successful.

Anita Shapolsky Gallery, renowned for its dedication to Abstract Expressionism, presents “A Dialogue Between Ernest Briggs and Peter Bonner.” This exhibition brings together two generations of abstraction, juxtaposing the bold, gestural work of Ernest Briggs with the introspective, process-driven paintings of Peter Bonner. A key figure in the second generation of Abstract Expressionism, Briggs embodied the movement’s raw energy and spontaneity, using vigorous brushwork to express emotion and the rugged intensity of human nature. In contrast, Bonner explores perception, identity, and memory through layered compositions that invite contemplation beyond the surface.

This spring, the presentation of late works by French avant-garde artist Francis Picabia (1879 – 1953) travels from Hauser & Wirth’s Paris gallery to 22nd Street in New York. Organized in collaboration with Comité Picabia, and co-curated by its President, Beverley Calté, and art historian Arnauld Pierre, ‘Eternal Beginning’ is the first major exhibition to focus on Picabia’s compelling final period. It features close to 30 paintings created by Picabia between 1945—when he returned to Paris from the South of France—and 1952, the penultimate year of his life. As a complement to the exhibition, Hauser & Wirth Publishers has released a catalogue with fresh scholarship in both English and French on Picabia’s late work.

Nicola Vassell presents Where The I Settles, an exhibition of new and recent work by Che Lovelace, the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. Across a group of multi-paneled paintings, the exhibition radically expands his exploration into the relationship between nature and society in his native Trinidad. Lovelace attends to the many ways that these worlds contrast with one another before eventually reaching a state of unity, which he expresses above all through the act of painting itself.

Lincoln Glenn Gallery presents Herself: American Artists of the 20th Century. This eclectic grouping of 24 artists shares a kaleidoscope of influence that unites them across nearly 100 years of artistic production. The women represented in Herself had varying degrees of commercial success, some achieving major museum shows and earning a place on the rosters of well-known galleries, while others are still seeking institutional recognition. Regardless of their notoriety, each of these artists had a hand in the greater cultural development of visual art in 20th century America. Enterprising and bold, they made strides not only for women artists to have a seat at the table, but for women to be respected for their contributions in any field.

Carpenters Workshop Gallery New York presents a display of works by Aki+Arnaud Cooren, the multidisciplinary design studio known for serene, dreamy, creations that evoke poignant and harmonious confluences with the natural world. The exhibition features new pieces that add to the duo’s acclaimed Ishigaki Lamp series, which won a Créateurs Design Award in 2025 and is inspired by freediving experiences off the coast of Ishigaki island, southern Japan.

In a celebration of modern and contemporary Italian design, Forma & Estetica at Carpenters Workshop Gallery brings together leading figures in the field, exploring how beauty and function intersect in a world shaped by industry, urbanisation and cultural tradition. The exhibition features contemporary artists Vincenzo De Cotiis and Giacomo Ravagli alongside iconic 20th-century designers such as Gio Ponti, Gabriella Crespi, Emilio Lancia, Cesare Leonardi, Franca Stagi, Mario Gottardi, Studio BBPR, and Ico and Luisa Parisi.

D’Lan Contemporary presents the tenth anniversary edition, and the first international edition of SIGNIFICANT, the flagship exhibition which presents the finest works of art by Australia’s preeminent First Nations artists to market every year. SIGNIFICANT 2025 takes place across all three D’Lan Contemporary galleries - Melbourne, Sydney, and New York - in a pivotal new format that will provide collectors a unique opportunity to view and acquire a diverse selection of exceptional works of art on the market in person, and online.

TEMPLON New York presents its first exhibition by American painter Will Cotton. In this new body of work, Between Instinct and Reason, the artist continues to reflect on pop culture and a new American mythology. In Cotton’s world of sugary treats, pink unicorns, and hypermasculine cowboys, he is now introducing a new player: the mermaid.

Lévy Gorvy Dayan presents Half Way Home by Los-Angeles based artist Austyn Weiner. Weiner’s debut solo exhibition with the gallery comprises three monumental paintings that form an immersive installation, representing the emotional, physical, and spiritual odyssey she traversed over the past year.

Michael Werner Gallery, New York presents Scarecrow, an exhibition of new works by Sanya Kantarovsky (b. 1982 in Moscow).“The painter is condemned to please. By no means can he transform a painting into an object of aversion. The purpose of a scarecrow is to frighten birds from the field where it is planted, but the most terrifying painting is there to attract visitors. Actual torture can also be interesting, but in general that can’t be considered its purpose.”

Nohra Haime Gallery presents ATLAS TO THE SELF, a group exhibition exploring the ways in which identity is constructed, performed, and resisted through the interplay of memory, landscape, language, and the body. Featuring works by Hugo Bastidas, Lesley Dill, Ruby Rumié, Pedro Ruiz, Gregg Louis, Carol K. Brown, Adam Straus, and Julie Hedrick, the exhibition brings together photography, drawing, painting, and text to chart an intimate and political topography of the self—where each artist acts as both cartographer and witness.

Michael Rosenfeld Gallery presents Bienvenue: African American Artists in France, a historical survey of seventeen Black American artists who lived and worked in France from the late nineteenth century through the present.

The Coney Island History Project will open for the season on May 24th with new exhibits by Charles Denson and Amanda Deutch. Coney Island Streets: 1965–1975 and Brooklyn Wilds combine street photography, cyanotypes, native plants, and poetry to explore the natural and urban sides of Coney Island that are not well known. Through the medium of photography, both shows complement each other by exploring the complexity of this New York City neighborhood. With this exhibit, we are introducing our new Wonder Gallery, a collaboration between Charles Denson and Amanda Deutch. More info on our website. Link in bio.

Yancey Richardson presents Self-Portraits While Buried, an exhibition featuring works from Jenny Calivas’ titular series and the artist’s debut with the gallery. Combining photography and performance, Calivas produces her photographs using analog processes and experimental darkroom techniques, prioritizing embodied ways of thinking and making. In photographs which show her partially or almost completely submerged in the landscape, Calivas explores the relationship between the female body and a feminized understanding of the Earth, while also reflecting on the power of looking and the vulnerability of being looked at.

Stephen Friedman Gallery, New York presents Uncommon Sight, an exhibition of new paintings by Korean artist Yooyun Yang. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York, following her ambitious US debut in the 58th Carnegie International in 2022.

Yancey Richardson presents Conjurer, an exhibition by Greek artist Maria Antelman, her first with the gallery. Bringing together work made over the past five years, the exhibition highlights Antelman’s unique approach to photography in which her lyrical and experimental approach to imagery and montage is combined with a sculptural sensibility and attention to the photograph as an object in three dimensions. Through her merging and splicing together of images—those from the body and from nature—Antelman endeavors to re-mystify our understanding of the natural world.

“Into the Dimensional Corridor” is a phrase borrowed from a first season episode of the Star Trek series and refers to a magnetic corridor that allows travel between parallel universes, one of matter and one of anti-matter. In the years leading up to the first installation of “Into the Dimensional Corridor”, Lutz Bacher slowly amassed sheets of Plexiglas from salvage stores throughout Brooklyn and Queens. As the number of sheets grew, she wrote in her notes: “So there was a sense that [this] was something to ‘follow’– wherever it might lead me – ”. As was often the trajectory of her later installations, she did not know where the path would lead or what other objects might finally come together.

Arresting Beauty: Julia Margaret Cameron explores the path-breaking career of photography’s first widely recognized artist. Cameron (1815–1879) was born in Calcutta to a French mother and an English father; in 1848, with her husband and children, she moved to England, where her sisters introduced her to the elite cultural circles in which they traveled. Residing on the Isle of Wight, where she was close neighbors with the poet Alfred Tennyson, Cameron acquired her first camera at age 48. In only eleven years she would create thousands of exposures and leave an enduring image of the Victorian era as an age of intellectual and spiritual ambition. Her own prodigious drive helped Cameron become a probing portraitist of leading figures such as Tennyson, Thomas Carlyle, G.F. Watts, and Charles Darwin, while her absorption with fine art, notably Renaissance painting, led her to create staged tableaux in a mode that has been perpetually rediscovered by photographers down to the present. Most distinct of all was Cameron’s wholly personal handling of her medium. Heedless of a large camera’s technical limitations, alert to the happy effects of accident, and indifferent to critical scorn, she embraced a style of spontaneous intimacy that distanced her from the photographic establishment of her time and class. Motion blur, highly selective focus, and even fingerprints on the glass negatives (which required developing before their emulsions dried) are among the idiosyncrasies of her singular oeuvre. Cameron was quick to exploit publishing and promotional opportunities: at London’s South Kensington Museum (today the Victoria & Albert Museum) she secured not only an exhibition in 1865 but, a few years later, studio space, and she was the first photographic artist to be collected by the institution. Arresting Beauty features prints from its initial purchase and from subsequent additions to its holdings, which have grown to number nearly one thousand. The exhibition includes Cameron’s large if optically primitive lens (all that survives of her apparatus), pages from her memoir manuscript Annals of My Glass House, and portraits she made in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) after Cameron and her husband moved there in 1875.

The annual tasting event returns to City Winery in 2025! We’re thrilled to host this special evening for the WSJ Wine community. You’ll sip and sample your way through over 60 wines, all while chatting with our most-loved winemakers from Tuscany, Bordeaux, California and beyond. Our tastings are known for their relaxed, cocktail party atmosphere. Taste at your own pace with friends, meet the experts and enjoy exclusive discounts on the wines you try. Join us on May 30, 2025 from 6-9pm at City Winery—located in Pier 57 at Hudson River Park. Here’s what you can look forward to: • Taste over 60 wines —including premium selections from our inner cellar. • Meet and mingle with exciting producers like California’s iconic Boisset Collection, Rioja’s famed Altos de la Guardia estate, Tuscany’s Paolo and Annarita Masi and France's legendary Jean-Marc Diffonty. • NEW highlights this year include Greek wines, Wines Across America, the official JETS Sonoma Cabernet and an Italian fine wine table. • Enjoy light snacks such as cheese, charcuterie and desserts. • The dynamic teams from Château La Clarière in Bordeaux and RedHeads in Australia will also be on-hand, pouring their beloved boutique wines. • NEW expanded Vineyard Partner lounge. We’ll uncork special releases, offer light bites and have a few additional surprises. New location this year! The VP lounge has moved from the main stage to the waterfront terrace directly outside the event space, giving you beautiful views of the Hudson River. • Our in-house wine experts will be floating around all evening to answer your questions. • Enjoy 20% off and free shipping on any wine order (of 12+ bottles) placed at the event. (Advantage members get an additional $20 discount on wine orders.) With beautiful views, world-class wines and great company, there’s no better way to spend an evening in the city. See you there! Please note, this is a private tasting event. Tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be available at the door. Must be 21+ to attend this event. Attendees can receive refunds up to 7 days prior to the day of the event (Eventbrite fees are nonrefundable). By attending this event, you agree to be photographed and/or filmed and give permission to use your likeness in promotional and/or marketing materials. Information Source: WSJ Wine | eventbrite

Get ready for fashion’s biggest night of the year — Met Gala 2025 is making its grand return on May 5 at the iconic Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City! Known as the “Oscars of fashion,” this exclusive event brings together the world’s most influential designers, celebrities, and cultural icons for a night where art, identity, and style collide. This year’s theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” shines a spotlight on the elegance, resilience, and creativity of Black dandyism — from its historical roots in 18th-century tailoring to its bold influence on today’s streetwear and haute couture. Over 30 groundbreaking designers will be featured, including Virgil Abloh, Grace Wales Bonner, and Olivier Rousteing, alongside curated photography, portraits, and fashion pieces that tell a powerful story of self-expression and cultural pride. Expect the red carpet to be more dazzling than ever, with stars like Rihanna, Zendaya, A$AP Rocky, and Pharrell Williams anticipated to make show-stopping appearances. This year’s co-chairs include Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, and LeBron James — a lineup that speaks volumes about the intersection of fashion, identity, and impact. Met Gala 2025 isn’t just a glamorous event — it’s a cultural moment. Whether you’re a fashion devotee, a culture lover, or simply curious about the stories behind the style, this year’s gala and exhibition promise a deeply meaningful experience. The exhibit will be open to the public from May 10 through October 26, inviting visitors from around the globe to explore a beautifully curated journey through fashion and history. Planning your trip to New York for Met Gala 2025? Stay tuned with Trip.com for the latest updates on tickets, travel tips, and everything you need to experience this unforgettable celebration of art and elegance.

Experience the magic of a magical evening at our Loy Krathong Festival! Join us as we gather at the water's edge to celebrate love, hopes and dreams, all illuminated by the soft glow of floating lanterns.

︎Picture this: you and your crew, decked out in your sharpest all-white outfits, stepping aboard for an evening of pure vibes. We’ll cruise around Manhattan, dancing to killer beats from Dj Dharak spinning fusion and desi hits, all while the stunning NYC skyline glows under the sun. You will glide past many legendary landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty, Freedom Tower, Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge. Sip your drinks, feel the breeze, and let loose on this stylish nautical adventure. Your Cruise Experience Will Include: Dj Dharak & Friends playing all styles of Bollywood, Top 40 & more. Scenic Bollywood Party Cruise of the NYC harbor. Captivating views of the Manhattan skyline including the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Ellis Island, the Freedom Tower and more. Open-Air deck and climate-controlled indoor cabins. Expect to dance away on our nightclub on the water and take plenty of snaps of the view! This Event is Strictly For 21 & Over. Proper Physical ID Will Be Required To Board. Our White Dress Code Policy exudes sophistication and unity among guests. It’s essential to adhere to this theme to honor the event’s aesthetic and make a lasting impression. Whether you're going for casual elegance or glamorous sophistication, sticking to the dress code allows you to blend seamlessly into the party atmosphere. We're talking chic sundresses, fashionable short sleeve button downs, vibrant kurtas, and everything in between! Event Information : Boarding: 5:30PM // Departure: 6:30PM // Returns : 10:30PM Information Source: DesiSaturdays.Com | eventbrite

The New York Knicks, established in 1946 and based in New York City, New York, USA, play their home games at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks have won the NBA Championship twice, in 1970 and 1973. Current key players include Jalen Brunson. The Indiana Pacers, established in 1967 and based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, play their home games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Pacers have won three ABA Championships but have not won an NBA Championship. Current key players include Tyrese Haliburton.

Information Source: BarCada | eventbrite

Timothy Taylor mounts a solo exhibition of new paintings by British figurative painter Antonia Showering at its New York gallery this spring. Showering is known for her enigmatic, psychologically fraught paintings with single or coupled subjects set against hazy mountain ranges or in scenes of aqueous, ambiguous domesticity. This presentation marks the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery and her first in New York.

Make a splash at MOCA! Celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节) on Saturday, May 31st from 2:00-5:00pm with an afternoon full of arts & crafts, storytelling, and scavenger hunts! Learn all about dragon boat racing, try your hand at wrapping zòngzi, stuff a fragrant xiāng bāo, and much more family fun! Check back shortly to see the full schedule of events. Tickets: $5/person (plus EventBrite fees). Kids 12 and under and MOCA Family Members free. Limited free tickets for Culture Pass, Cool Culture, and Culture Connected families. Stay tuned for details on the release of these tickets. Tickets may be purchased at the door on the day of the event, starting at 2:30 PM, if capacity allows. Know Before You Go Family Festivals are bustling events with lots of sights, sounds, and aromas. There is limited stroller parking available, with a staff-operated lift used to reach the restrooms and lower level spaces. We recommend families with sensory concerns join our MOCACREATE events to celebrate the holiday. Due to the limited capacity of the museum and efforts to adhere to safety guidelines, families may have to wait to enter the museum during peak times. MOCA’s Family Festival Series is supported with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. Information Source: Museum of Chinese in America | eventbrite

If you are a woman who is looking for a younger, more energetic man then this event is for you! And if you are a man looking for an attractive older woman with experience, then your search stops here! How does it work? You will go on about 10 dates with someone of the opposite sex, each date will be 5 minutes long/short. We will provide you with materials to tell us who you liked. If the same person(s) you pick also pick you, you will be a "Match" and we will give you each others' contact information - then the rest is up to you! Call each other up and make plans to go out! Ages: Men 30-40, Women 40-55 Cubs you must be within the ages of 30-40 to attend this event. We will check ID at the door and turn anyone away who is outside of the age range. FAQs Dress code? There is no strict dress code, but we recommend you dress to make a good first impression. What time should I arrive? Please arrive at least 15 minutes early to sign in and get situated. You must RSVP to attend. We cannot accept walk-ins because we need to ensure an equal number of men and women. Speed dating is a fun and pressure free way to meet singles in NYC! Information Source: Speed Dating & Singles Events | eventbrite

Transmediation: Visualizing Verse This event is free but registration is required. When poetry meets visual art, the result is a stunning cross-medium experience. During the pandemic, author, philosopher, publisher and translator Michael Eskin hosted a virtual weekly poetry hour. Globally renowned visual artist, designer, and illustrator Raanan Gabriel created visual interpretations of the poems from these convenings, reinterpreting the aesthetics and themes of the poems through illustration. Join poets Michael Eskin ( The Emprise of Poetry) , Forrest Gander ( Mojave Ghost ) Moira Egan ( Synæsthesium: Poems ), and artist Raanan Gabriel as the author and poets respond to Ranaan’s striking artistic reimagining of their work. This event will blend poetry, animation and live discussion to create an unforgettable dialogue that transforms how we read, see, and understand poetry across forms. The 2025 PEN World Voices Festival, the 20th anniversary of the festival, will be a celebration of world literature and free expression. Over four days, over 80 writers from over 35 countries will be featured in engaging talks, panels, readings, and performances in New York City and greater Los Angeles. Visit https://worldvoices.pen.org/ for more information about the entire festival, as well as PEN America. ACCESSIBILITY: The New School is ADA compliant. ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only . Please reach out to our Box Office team at publicprograms@pen.org by April 21st to request. Please ask a Box Office Attendant or festival representative upon arrival for directions to accessible seating if preferred. For further information on accessibility in this space, or to make a request, please contact publicprograms@pen.org COVID-19 2025 Festival Policy: While not required, per public health official guidelines, the World Voices Festival recommends being fully vaccinated, and wearing masks in all public indoor settings as a precaution against the spread of Covid-19, as well as around crowds. If you are feeling unwell, please do not come to the event. Reach out to publicprograms@pen.org for assistance if you have already purchased a ticket. We thank you for ensuring our speakers, guests and venue workers feel safe and comfortable at all World Voices Festival events. If you have questions or concerns please contact publicprograms@pen.org Information Source: PEN America | eventbrite