Each September in New York after Labor Day, the art world returns from a much-needed summer break and dives headfirst into a bounty of gallery openings, art fairs, and major museum shows. This year, though, the city’s fall fairs—The Armory Show and Independent 20th Century—have shifted their dates back, gifting us a reprieve. Instead of cramming everything into one whirlwind week, the season’s newness unfolds across the month, with a little more headspace to take in all the art.
That doesn’t mean September has been quiet. The month has already brought several sprints of gallery openings and a few major museum shows, with some of the fall’s biggest exhibitions still on the horizon. Now, with fair week upon us, it’s the perfect moment to catch up: hit the fairs, pop by galleries, and see what’s newly opened across the city. While you’re at it, it’s the perfect time to make a res at one of the city’s new art-forward restaurants, which we rounded up here. Nearly all are close to the venues listed below.
We’ve spent the past few weeks making the rounds. Here’s our 10-stop guide to the art to see during Armory Week 2026.
1. The Armory Show
Sep. 24–27 | Javits Center, 429 11th Ave | Hudson Yards
The Armory Show returns with its usual mix of international galleries, small and large, plus curated sections that keep things interesting (around 230 exhibitors are taking part this year). I suggest starting with Presents, the section for younger galleries, and Solo, with its single-artist presentations ranging from historical 20th-century names to emerging talents. Both Focus, curated by María Elena Ortiz, and Platform, dedicated to large-scale works, spotlight artists of the Caribbean and its diaspora.
The fair is doing plenty of programming, including Armory Live, a multiday series of talks, many featuring artists. And new this year is Armory After Hours, an evening event on Friday, September 25th, from 7 to 9 p.m., where you can explore the fair and experience a processional performance inspired by Caribbean carnival led by DJ and creative producer Adam “Foreigner” Cooper.
2. Independent 20th Century
Sep. 24–27 | The Breuer, 945 Madison Ave | Upper East Side
NYC 1920’s, 1989
Frank Diaz Escalet
Hollis Taggart
Independent 20th Century moves uptown this year to perhaps its most fitting venue yet: the Breuer building, now Sotheby’s headquarters. It’s an apt setting for the fair, which is less concerned with the century’s known quantities than its lesser-known artists and artworks. Several presentations even revisit artists who once showed in the building during its years as the Whitney, the Met Breuer, and the Frick. This edition brings 57 exhibitors, most presenting solo or two-person shows.
Highlights include the Andy Warhol Foundation’s presentation of the artist’s little-known homoerotic drawings; and several galleries will spotlight women of Abstract Expressionism, including Olney Gleason, Berry Campbell, and Bueno & Co.
3. The Guggenheim
1071 Fifth Ave | Upper East Side
The Guggenheim just opened a major new show: Taryn Simon’s “Father Country I Do Love You,” which takes over the entire rotunda. Nearly a decade in the making, the show spans 42 works, including photography, video, sculpture, and many, many stories, built around the real life of an unnamed federal agent—whose career touched everything from fingerprinting Jodie Foster to 9/11. Simon shares stories from his time on the job and connects them with bigger questions of power and politics. The show is on view through March 14, 2027.
While uptown, I recommend a quick stop at some nearby galleries: Danh Vō at White Cube, Thea Djordjadze at Sprüth Magers, and Bea Scaccia at Gagosian (which opens September 22nd).
4. Chelsea Gallery Shows
Chelsea
Before or after Armory, head south to take in Chelsea’s standout shows. Three I would recommend are:
- Anthony McCall at Sean Kelly: You have to experience McCall’s light installations in person to begin to understand their magic. The show spans his landmark early work, Line Describing a Cone (1973), through to a new installation.
- Sara Anstis at Olney Gleason: Anstis’s tiny, intricate pastels are oh so delectable. She draws on mythology, medieval imagery, folklore, and Old Master painting, but the works are inarguably entirely her own—filled with mysterious ladies, skinny dogs, and dreamlike scenarios.
- Eric N. Mack at Paula Cooper: In “You Red the Shirt Off My Back,” Mack presents fabric-based installations and sculptures that translate the language of painting into three dimensions, while also bringing art and fashion into conversation.
5. Tribeca Gallery Shows
Tribeca
No New York art week is complete without a trip to Tribeca, arguably the city’s most interesting gallery hub. Here are three shows worth stopping by:
- Melissa Joseph at Charles Moffett: “Casserole Culture” brings together 15 new works exemplifying Joseph’s mesmerizing capacity to “paint” with wool. Ranging from small sculptures with found objects to massive needle-felted paintings, the works delve into the artist’s personal experiences, family, and upbringing.
- Edith Dekyndt at Marian Goodman: “Notes on What Is What,” her first show since joining the gallery’s roster, incorporates video, installations, and drawing to explore and surface imperceptible elements of the everyday.
- Emma McIntyre at David Zwirner Tribeca: McIntyre’s new paintings and works on paper combine oil and oxidized iron, displaying her mastery of balancing control and spontaneity.
6. MoMA PS1 + Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair
Sep. 24–27 | 22-25 Jackson Ave | Long Island City, Queens
It’s an ideal time to get yourself to MoMA PS1. The museum is opening a new show of Teresa Margolles on September 24th, while Precious Okoyomon’s living installation is still on view in the courtyard. Meanwhile, Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair takes place over the weekend. The beloved annual event returns with its plethora of books, zines, and other printed wares from independent publishers and small presses. You can buy tickets for opening night on Thursday, September 24th, from 7 to 10 p.m., or for a visit throughout the weekend (the fair runs through Sunday).
7. New Museum
235 Bowery | Lower East Side
The New Museum kicks off its fall season on September 24th with a full slate of new exhibitions. Leading the lineup is “Arthur Jafa: I Am Tony,” the first U.S. museum survey of the esteemed artist, taking over two floors of the museum with new pieces alongside signature works like Love is the Message, The Message is Death (2016) and The White Album (2019). Alongside it is “Diego Marcon: Arrivederci, Piggies!,” marking the artist’s New York solo museum debut, and the group show “The Bowery: Devil’s Mile” reflecting on four centuries of art and visual culture of the mile-long thoroughfare where the museum is located.
8. Amant
315 Maujer St | East Williamsburg, Brooklyn
If you live in Brooklyn or you’re eager for an adventurous outing in the borough, I recommend a trip to East Williamsburg art foundation Amant. Two exhibitions have just opened: “Sentient Earth” is a group show bringing together artists tapping into the earth as a living, thinking being. Meanwhile, Matthew Lutz-Kinoy takes over another part of the space with “The Mud Room: Itinerant Artists, Folk Spectacles, and Painted Walls,” which presents a wonderfully theatrical ceramic studio.
While there, check out Zoli, Amant’s restaurant next door, which boasts great design, an excitingly unusual menu, and Pierre Huyghe aquariums behind the bar. And a couple of blocks away, pop by Carvalho—the gallery is showing a two-artist show of paintings by Alicja Biała and textile sculptures by Diana Orving.
9. ICP
84 Ludlow St | Lower East Side
If you need a break from fairs and galleries, head downtown to the photography institution ICP to catch the final weeks of two distinct and intriguing shows. “Yves Saint Laurent and Photography” traces the four-decade relationship between the designer and the camera, with works by Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, and many more illustrious names. “Photobooks USA 2000–25” gathers more than 50 photo books from the last 25 years that trace salient themes and issues of American life, including race, migration, and labor.
On Thursdays, the museum hosts ICP Late Night and stays open until 8 p.m. with $5 admission. This week, on September 24th, photographer Landon Nordeman will be shooting Instax portraits outside on Ludlow and Broome Streets.
10. SPRING/BREAK Art Show
Sep. 24–28 | 555 West 57th Street | Hell’s Kitchen
The free-wheeling art fair SPRING/BREAK is taking place this year in midtown at the former offices of CBS News, with more than 120 presentations organized by independent curators and artists. Revolving around the theme of “Hide n Seek,” early highlights include a show inspired by making art with kids, curated by Todd Bienvenu and featuring works by artists like Julie Curtiss and Katherine Bradford, a video work by Half Gallery founder Bill Powers, a presentation of sculptures by Stuart Lantry curated by Shona McAndrew, and a presentation exploring the perils of AI on writing, co-curated by novelist Jennifer Egan.
from Artsy News https://ift.tt/B5eSdI3
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