New York Art Week returns this May, and the art world converges on the city for a dense run of fairs, museum openings, and gallery nights stretching from the Lower East Side to the Upper East Side. Here is Whitewall‘s guide to navigating it.
Frieze New York
The Shed, 545 West 30th Street, Hudson Yards
May 14–17, 2026
Anas Albraehe at mor charpentier at Frieze New York 2026.
The anchor of New York Art Week returns to The Shed with around 65 galleries from 26 countries — among them Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Pace, Perrotin, Thaddaeus Ropac, Esther Schipper, White Cube, and David Zwirner. The Focus section, curated by Lumi Tan, spotlights galleries twelve years old or younger. Booths to watch include Mapuche artist Seba Calfuqueo‘s hair-based works, Aki Goto‘s iPhone stills transferred onto dental furniture, and Jenkins Johnson Gallery‘s presentation marking the United States’ 250th anniversary through artists of the African diaspora.
NADA New York
Starrett-Lehigh Building, 601 West 26th Street, 3rd Floor
May 14–17, 2026
Installation Shot of Renelle White Buffalo and Jerry the Marble Faun at NADA NY 2026. Photo by Adam Reich. Courtesy of SITUATIONS.
Now in its 12th edition, NADA gathers more than 110 galleries, non-profits, and art spaces from 15 countries — 51 of them first-time exhibitors. It remains the fair for discovery and younger programs. Names to watch: Shangfeng Zhang at Latitude Gallery, Margaret R. Thompson at Red Arrow Gallery, and Emily Ponsonby at Gillian Jason Gallery.
Independent
Pier 36, 299 South Street, Lower East Side
May 15–17, 2026
Courtesy of the Irving and Aaronel deRoy Gruber Foundation, april april, and Romance, Pittsburgh. Photo: JSP Art Photography.
Independent relocates to Pier 36 this year, with SO-IL shaping the fair’s exterior and Diogo Passarinho Studio its interior design. Smaller, sleeker, and prized for unhurried looking, it opens with a gala benefitting the Henry Street Settlement.
TEFAF New York
Park Avenue Armory, 443 Park Avenue (between 44th & 47th Streets)
May 15–19, 2026
TEFAF New York 2025. Photo by Vincent Tullo.
The 10th New York edition brings 88 dealers from 14 countries to the Armory, spanning antiquity to the present — modern painting, contemporary sculpture, ancient artifacts, fine jewelry, and collectible design under one roof. Highlights include Gagosian with Kathleen Ryan‘s bejeweled rotting-fruit sculptures, Thaddaeus Ropac with newcomer Eva Helene Pade, David Lévy pairing Keith Haring with Willem de Kooning, and a strong design showing from Gomide&Co (Lina Bo Bardi) and Modernity Stockholm (Finn Juhl).
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair
Starrett-Lehigh Building, West 26th Street
May 14–17, 2026
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in New York, photo by Eliza Jordan.
Sharing the Starrett-Lehigh Building with NADA, 1-54 brings its focused survey of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora — an easy pairing with NADA in a single visit.
Installation view of Esther at the NY Estonian House, photo by Pierre Le Hors.
Esther III Venue: New York Estonian House Dates: May 2026 The third and final edition of Esther — part fair, part exhibition, part happening — gathers 22 galleries from ten cities for site-specific installations and performances that unfold room by room. Free and open to the public.
Future Fair Dates: May 13–16, 2026 A collaborative, gallery-friendly fair with a growing following among younger collectors.
MUSEUMS & EXHIBITIONS — MAY 2026
Installation Shot of “Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses,” May 16–December 6, 2026, Brooklyn Museum, New York. Courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum. Photo by On White Wall Studio.
“Raphael: Sublime Poetry” — The Metropolitan Museum of Art (through June 28) Eight years in the making, the first comprehensive US exhibition of Raphael gathers 237 works spanning his career, with major loans from the Louvre, Uffizi, and Rijksmuseum.
Marcel Duchamp — Museum of Modern Art (through August 22) A 300-work survey — the first major Duchamp exhibition in the US in more than 50 years — tracing a singular career through the deceptively simple lens of chronology.
“New Humans: Memories of the Future” — New Museum (ongoing) The New Museum unveils its $82-million expansion with a show occupying the entire building: more than 200 artists exploring how shifts in technology and society have redefined the human.
Whitney Biennial 2026 — Whitney Museum of American Art (through August 23) The 82nd Biennial brings together 56 artists, duos, and collectives, threaded by questions of what “American” means and the reach of US power abroad.
Greater New York 2026 — MoMA PS1 (through August 17) The sixth edition of PS1’s quinquennial survey of the five boroughs, with 53 local artists and collectives, coinciding with the institution’s 50th anniversary.
“Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses” — Brooklyn Museum (May 16–December 6) More than 140 haute couture looks from the designer who brought 3D printing, bioluminescent algae, and fermented fibers into fashion.
“Joan Semmel: In the Flesh” — The Jewish Museum (through May 31) The 93-year-old painter shows 16 of her own works alongside nearly 50 she has selected from the museum’s collection — closing soon.
“Sophie Rivera: Double Exposures” — El Museo del Barrio (through August 2) The first retrospective of the Puerto Rican American photographer, known for her 1978 Nuyorican Portraits.
“How Asian Is It?” — Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation (through July 11) Twelve pioneering East Asian American abstractionists born between 1928 and 1955, among them Barbara Takenaga and David Diao.
Also on view: Giuseppe Penone, “The Reflection of Bronze,” at Gagosian — a quiet counterpoint to fair-week intensity.
WHERE TO STAY
Photo by Adrian Gaut. Courtesy of The Mark Hotel.
Chelsea, NoMad & the West Side — for Frieze, NADA, 1-54 Faena New York — The Faena universe arrives in West Chelsea at One High Line, steps from the park: 120 rooms, Francis Mallmann’s La Boca, and the 17,000-square-foot Tierra Santa Healing House spa. The Fifth Avenue Hotel — A Gilded Age mansion in NoMad reimagined with maximalist flair, a serious art collection, and Café Carmellini by Andrew Carmellini. The High Line Hotel — A former seminary turned characterful retreat, steps from the Chelsea galleries. The Standard, High Line — Sleek rooms above the High Line, long a fixture of the art-and-fashion crowd.
Downtown — SoHo, Tribeca & the Lower East Side — for Independent and downtown galleries The Greenwich Hotel — Discreet, collector-favored Tribeca hideaway with the serene Shibui Spa. Warren Street Hotel — Firmdale‘s newest New York address, a Kit Kemp–designed celebration of contemporary art and color in Tribeca. The Manner — A SoHo address designed by Milanese architect Hannes Peer, with a Midtown-view rooftop and Alex Stupak‘s The Otter. The Mercer — The enduring SoHo address, all loft proportions and quiet luxury. Crosby Street Hotel — Firmdale’s art-filled townhouse hotel, playful and impeccably designed. Nine Orchard — A landmark former bank building on the Lower East Side, minutes from Pier 36.
Upper East Side — for TEFAF The Carlyle — Old-world Upper East Side glamour, and home to Bemelmans Bar. The Mark — Polished and design-forward, a short walk from the Park Avenue Armory. The Lowell — Intimate, residential luxury just off Madison Avenue.
WHERE TO DINE & UNWIND
Courtesy of Indochine.
Balthazar — SoHo. The enduring brasserie, as much a scene as a meal. The Odeon — Tribeca. A downtown institution since 1980, ideal after Independent. Frenchette — Tribeca. Inventive bistro cooking from the Minetta Tavern alumni. Le Coucou — SoHo. Refined, romantic French in a luminous room. Carbone — Greenwich Village. Theatrical Italian-American; book well ahead. Via Carota — West Village. Rustic Italian, no reservations, worth the wait. I Sodi — West Village. Quietly perfect Tuscan cooking from Rita Sodi. Estela — NoLita. Inventive small plates in an intimate, low-lit room. Lucien — East Village. Tiny, candlelit, and beloved by the downtown art crowd. Indochine — NoHo. A 1980s art-and-fashion landmark opposite the Public Theater. Sant Ambroeus — West Village, SoHo & Madison Avenue. Milanese elegance and a reliable collector crowd; the Madison Avenue room is steps from TEFAF. The Mark Restaurant by Jean-Georges — Upper East Side. Polished dining near the Armory.
BARS & LATE-NIGHT SPOTS
Photo by Durston Saylor. Courtesy of Carlyle Hotel.
Bemelmans Bar — The Carlyle, Upper East Side. The murals, the martinis, the piano — a true landmark. King Cole Bar — The St. Regis, Midtown. The birthplace of the Bloody Mary, under Maxfield Parrish‘s mural. Temple Bar — NoHo. A restored Art Deco cocktail institution, dark and glamorous. Dante — Greenwich Village. World-renowned aperitivo and a buzzing, all-day room. Bar Pisellino — West Village. All-day Italian aperitivo from the Via Carota team. Attaboy — Lower East Side. The cult cocktail bar on Eldridge — no menu, no sign, near Pier 36. Fanelli Cafe — SoHo. One of the oldest bars in the city; unpretentious and perfect between gallery stops. Le Bain — The Standard, Meatpacking. Rooftop drinks and late-night dancing, a short walk from The Shed.
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