8 A-May-Zing Art Exhibits You Need to Check Out This Month in NYC

Us New Yorkers are so blessed. 

We can just take a stroll down our street and look at all the free street art we want.

And, some of the greatest works of our time are on display at museums that are just a subway ride away.

It's no wonder why we have such a difficult time choosing where to go and what to do; there are just too many damn options. 

Feel free to start with our lineup though, and keep on exploring you artsy-fartsy New Yorker, you. 

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1. Commes des Garcons at the Met

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This spring exhibition from the Costume Institute examines the work of fashion designer Rei Kawakubo. Kawakubo is known for her avant-garde designs and ability to challenge conventional notions of beauty. 

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The thematic show features over 140 examples of Kawakubo's womenswear for Comme des Garçons dating back from the early 1980s up to her most recent collection. The heads and wigs are created and styled by Julien d'Ys. The installation will be on display through September 4th. 


2. Coney Art Walls 

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Coney Art Walls is an amazing outdoor museum featuring street art curated by Joseph Sitt and Jeffrey Deitch. Located near the beach and boardwalk in Coney Island, the public art wall project encompasses Greenwood Beach. There are over 20 artists being featured this year. Popular food vendors like Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Calexico and Table 87 will also be in the mix.

Coney Art Walls brings together some of the best artists painting outdoor murals to provide an art experience that is open and free to the public. The outdoor museum will be around for the summer, but close up in September. 


3. Nari Ward: G.O.A.T., again


Socrates Sculpture Park has been invaded with...goats. Literally, we're talking about the animals, but figuratively, G.O.A.T. refers to the "greatest of all time". Nari Ward is paying tribute to boxing legend Muhammad Ali and L.L. Cool J's 2000 album of the same name. 

The exhibit examines how "hubris creates misplaced expectations in American cultural politics". The goat sculptures will be on display through September 4th.


4. Joy Brown on Broadway

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So we may not be sure whether to call this exhibit creative genius or downright creepy. Joy Brown, a sculptor of over 35 years, was commissioned by the Broadway Mall Association to place her "blobs" throughout Broadway. 

Meet NYC’s new neighbors at locations along Broadway between 72nd and 168th Streets. They’ll be living there from May 17 to late November–more than enough time to get acquainted.


5. Brooklyn Historical Society Dumbo Opening


Brooklyn Historical Society DUMBO is a new Museum and Gift Shop located in Empire Stores. The new location will not be charging admission for their opening weekend, May 20th and 21st. 

The inaugural exhibition, "Shifting Perspectives: Photographs of Brooklyn's Waterfront", features the work of two dozen photographers whose images crisscross the Brooklyn shoreline, from Newtown Creek to Jamaica Bay. Being broke is no excuse this weekend!


6. Anselm Kiefer Gagosian Galleries

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Gagosian has just revealed Anselm Kiefer's latest exhibition including her new paintings, artists' books, and watercolors. As described by the gallery, "employing broad-ranging and erudite literary sources, from the Old and New Testaments to the poetry of Paul Celan, Kiefer’s oeuvre makes palpable the movement and destruction of human life and, at the same time, the persistence of the delicate, lyrical, or divine."

Also crucial to the exhibit are more than forty unique artists' books, their pages painted with gesso to mimic marble, displayed in an installation of glass vitrines. Kiefer's work will be on display through July 14th.


7. Whitney Biennial 

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The 2017 Whitney Biennial is a biennale exhibition of contemporary American art, usually by younger and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The 78th installment of the longest-running survey of American art “arrives at a time rife with racial tensions, economic inequities, and polarizing politics”, a.k.a. it's gonna totally have you thinking about the political climate and future of America. 

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The Biennial this year features 63 artists and collectives whose work comes in a wide variety of forms, from painting and installation to activism and video-game design. The exhibition will be go on until June 11th. 


8. Anish Kapoor's Descension

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Anish Kapoor, the talented British sculptor, has just revealed his newest work at Brooklyn Bridge Park. He basically created a 26-foot diameter giant whirlpool.

The mesmerizing vortex will be on view through September 10th. 

[Feature Image Courtesy Street Art NYC] 

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