If you’re planning to be in Manhattan this autumn, there are several blockbuster shows at New York museums you should put on your list. And—even if you weren’t planning a trip—perhaps you’d like to reconsider!
Must-See Museum Shows in New York This Fall
Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies / Brooklyn Museum
Until January 19, 2025
The more than 200 works in this landmark show serves to celebrate the Black woman artist Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012), who has previously not received the attention she deserves. Both prolific as an artist and deeply political, Catlett shined a light on racial violence and class inequality, often using her artworks as a record of and mouthpiece for her activism. Although she was born in the States, she moved to Mexico in the 40s, and used her work to show the world the plight of Black and Mexican women.
Steve McQueen / Dia Chelsea
Until January, 2025
Filmmaker Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Occupied City, and Blitz) does more than simply make movies. He has, for over 30 years, explored the many possibilities of film and what it can achieve. The common theme is power relations, and he looks at what it means to live within and outside of (or even opposed to) hierarchical structures. The show at Dia Chelsea brings together three works about the African diaspora, including Sunshine State, which involves the artist’s father and an examination of racial stereotypes and identity.
Edges of Ailey / Whitney Museum of American Art
Until February 9, 2025
Choreographer Alvin Ailey’s full legacy—his life, his choreography, his influences—gets an extravagant treatment. The exhibition includes archival materials, artwork, live music and dance, photographs, and more. There is an immersive component on the fifth floor, and a series of performances in the theatre on the third floor. Rarely-displayed items include notebooks, performance footage, drawings, poems, programs, and interviews. (A montage of Ailey’s dances will also be shown on loop.) Artists whose work is included in the exhibition include Jean-Michel Basquiat, Faith Ringgold, Kara Walker, and Rashid Johnson.
Bella da Costa Greene: A Librarian’s Legacy / The Morgan Library
October 25, 2024-May 4, 2025
The Morgan Library and Museum, one of New York’s most fascinating repositories of historical artifacts, turns 100 in 2024. As part of its celebration, it is presenting an exhibition celebrating its first director, Belle da Costa Greene, who helped bring together the uncommonly great collection of books and manuscripts, first for the private library of the namesake (J. Pierpont Morgan), and transformed his holdings into a public institution in 1924. The exhibition follows Greene’s own story and her career, illustrated by rare books, medieval manuscripts, and related ephemera.
Story by Stephen Treffinger / Photo courtesy of the Whitney Museum of American Art
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