A Year in NYC Art Shows
Hyperallergic's top exhibitions in the city that never sleeps, turmoil at the Lucas Museum, and the fragile state of funding for media and video arts.
Did you know that an exhibition opens every 17 seconds in New York City? Just kidding, but it certainly does seem that way here, as though art shows were sprouting from the pavement or falling from the sky. They are, in reality, the result of the labor and love of artists, curators, administrators, interns, scholars, and the countless others we celebrate in our list of the city's best exhibitions of 2025.
Read: The Best New York City Exhibitions of 2025
Shows this year spotlighted hometown heroes, like Coco Fusco at El Museo and Joyce McDonald at the Bronx Museum. They reinvented the sublime — think Amy Sherald at the Whitney — and explored the body as battleground, like Nayland Blake at Matthew Marks. And thanks to Iván Argote at the High Line, one divisive NYC icon — the pigeon — finally got its due.
Opinion
Scholar Helena Shaskevich pens a searing critique of the School of the Art Institute's effective gutting of the Video Data Bank and the bleak landscape for media art funding. Ellie Armon Azoulay urgently exposes how Israel uses aural violence to terrorize Palestinians: “The soundscape of genocide,” she writes, “is cruel beyond measure.”
The School of the Art Institute Turned Its Back on Media Arts
Instead of engaging in dialogue with its dedicated Video Data Bank staff, SAIC chose to callously cross out a budgetary line item.
The Soundscape of Genocide in Gaza
The broadcast of Netanyahu’s speech was not the first time Israel intentionally used sound and speaker systems to intimidate and terrorize the people of Palestine.
MA Curatorial Practice at SVA: Winter/Spring Events
MA Curatorial Practice (MACP) at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) is pleased to announce its Winter/Spring events, including 14 public sessions of the Curatorial Roundtable with distinguished international curators. Based in New York City, MACP is one of the world’s leading master’s degree programs in the field, providing practical professional training for emerging curators.
News
- WTF Is Up at the Lucas Museum? The sudden departure of Pilar Tompkins Rivas, the museum's chief curator and deputy director of Curatorial and Collections, is the latest sign of chaos at the yet-to-open LA institution.
- Louvre Can't Catch a Break: The Paris museum has suffered a leak that damaged hundreds of books in its Egyptian Antiquities collection as staff announce a strike.
- Theft in Brazil: Artworks including Matisse prints were taken from a library in São Paulo in broad daylight.
Mitchell Johnson: Paintings from North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Morocco (Selected Work 1979-2025)
Work by the Bay Area artist is on view in Menlo Park, California, through December 20.
Member Comment
Jozanne Rabyor on Hyperallergic's “25 Things We're Grateful for in the Art World”:
ICYMI
Drowning in the Light of Monet’s Venice
Venice turned out to be the ideal environment for the artist to explore the relationship between water and light that long preoccupied him. | Natalie Haddad
Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program
The Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program is currently accepting applications for its 2026–2027 residency period. The program awards studio space to 17 visual artists for year-long residencies in Brooklyn, New York.
Application Period: Dec 15–Jan 15, 2026
thestudioprogram.com/apply
View this month's list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art workers.
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—Valentina Di Liscia, Senior Editor
