This January, we’re bringing you the top exhibitions in New York that are helping to kick off 2025 with a bang. Don’t miss out on exclusive never-before-seen works by Cy Twombly, solo shows of Faye Toogood, Henry Taylor, Verne Daws, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, and the enchanted fantasy of “Behind the Bedroom Door” presented by James Cohan.
Barkley Hendricks
Jack Shainman
513 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011
Barkley Hendricks. “Salvation Army Joyce on 78 Speed,” 1979
ink and color pencil on paper, 22 3/8 x 29 7/8 inches, courtesy of Jack Shainman.
Elisabeth Sann has curated “Space is the Place,” an impactful exhibition highlighting the visionary works of renowned artist Barkley L. Hendricks, presented by Jack Shainman. Opening this week in New York, it features a playlist made in collaboration with Soul Jazz Records, and plunges into the profound relationship between celestial bodies and the human experience. Combining visual art and music, “Space is the Place” offers a captivating exploration of Black identity and the future, inviting viewers to engage with themes of empowerment, escapism, and transformation.
Why we love it: The title refers to Sun Ra’s 1972 film, tying the cosmos, art of jazz, and visual pieces all together. While the exhibition is a celebration of Hendrick’s profound work, it also highlights the themes of Afrofuturism.
Barley Hendricks at Jack Shainman
January 9—February 22, 2025
Faye Toogood
Friedman Benda
515 W 26th St 1st Floor, New York, NY 10001
Photo by Genevieve Lutkin, courtesy of the Faye Toogood.
Photo by Genevieve Lutkin, courtesy of the Faye Toogood.
Faye Toogood’s “Assemblage 7: Lost and Found II” at Friedman Brenda, marks the British designer’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery. Originally showcased in Los Angeles in 2022 and at Chatsworth House in 2023, this renowned collection makes its New York debut. “Whether you are a fashion designer,a furniture designer, or an interior designer, the materials you can get your hands on are essential,” said Toogood. The artist offers a fresh perspective on her creative process, transforming English oak, and Purbeck marble into pieces that evoke and capture the passage of time.
Why we love it: Toogood uses historically significant materials, a modern revival of an 18th-century technique rooted in fine furniture making.
Faye Toogood at Friedman Benda
January 11—March 15, 2025
Cy Twombly
Gagosian
980 Madison Avenue New York, NY, 10075
Cy Twombly, Untitled, 1971, oil-based house paint and wax crayon on canvas, 80 x 134 5/8 inches, courtesy of Gagosian.
In powerful partnership with the Cy Twombly Association, Gagosian will present an exhibition of paintings, sculpture, and works on paper by the monumental Cy Twombly. The tremendous artwork will span across the fifth and six floors of the Madison Avenue galleries including keywords from 1968 to 1990. It will also feature exclusive never-before-seen pieces and loans from the esteemed Twombly family. The range of pieces offers a diverse look into the artist’s inspirations, like utilizing inscriptions from Leonardo de Vinci’s drawings Deluge.
Why we love it: The fifth-floor installation showcases Twombly’s green paintings from 1981 to 1986. Created in Teverina, Italy, it explores the grounded forces of water, earth, and air reminiscing the Rococo era of art.
Cy Twombly at Gagosian
January 23—March 22, 2025
Henry Taylor
Hauser & Wirth
443 West 18th Street, NY, 10011
Henry Taylor, “Again?,” 2024, hand painted monoprint with ink and acrylic, 127 x 106.7 cm / 50 x 42 inches, courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth.
Henry Taylor, “Let me borrow yo wrench,” 2024, hand painted monoprint with ink and acrylic, 116.8 x 96.5 cm / 46 x 38 inches, courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth.
Henry Taylor’s debut exhibition at Hauser & Wirth showcases his masterful ability to weave together figurative, landscape, and historical painting. He is masterful in blending drawing, installation, and sculpture to present a sentimental exhibit. For the first time, he unveils a stunning collection in collaboration with Paulson Fontaine Press in Berkeley, CA, featuring a series of limited-edition etchings and hand-painted monoprints. Through evocative still lifes, intimate portraits, and imagined landscapes of family and friends, Taylor imbues his work with a raw vulnerability.
Why we love it: A list of Taylor’s loved ones, Paulson Fontaine printers, and recent losses can be found on the back of a still life, inspired by Beckmann and Manet, as the artist’s private tribute.
Henry Taylor at Hauser & Wirth
November 1, 2024—February 15, 2025
Verne Dawson
Karma
22 East 2nd Street, NY, 10003
Courtesy of Karma
Karma unveils “Crystal Springs,” an exhibition of new prolific paintings by Verne Dawson. Dawson’s latest works are inspired by a spring near his home in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a dreamy timeless place. Without the aid of modern technology, Dawson’s paintings highlight the direct connection between subject, artist, and paint. The artist wrote that, “he devoted himself to painting because it offers ‘the much-desired possibility to escape time,’ eluding the dupe finitudes (like now and then) and instead calling attention . . . to time’s suppleness.”
Why we love it: Dawson invites viewers to immerse themselves in a utopian world, where nature’s vastness takes over humanity, echoing the magic of ancient landscape traditions.
Verne Dawson at Karma
January 8—February 28, 2025
Paul Mpagi Sepuya
Bortolami
39 Walker Street, New York, NY 10013
Paul Mpagi Sepuya, “Night Studio Mirror (_DSF1073),” 2024, archival pigment print, 24 x 19 1/4 inches, Copyright The Artist, courtesy the artist and Bortolami Gallery, New York.
Paul Mpagi Sepuya, “Night Studio Mirror Negative (_DSF0832),” 2024, dye-sublimation print on aluminum in artist’s frame, 24 x 19 1/4 inches, Copyright The Artist, courtesy of the artist and Bortolami Gallery, New York.
“TRANCE” is Paul Mpagi Sepuya’s second solo show featured at Bortolami. Sepuya blends studio and gallery settings, pushing the boundaries of his ongoing exploration of interior space. By capturing both staged and raw, everyday environments, and even photographing within the gallery where the works are displayed, he creates a dynamic, tension-filled interplay of image and form.
Why we love it: A gazing ball, which is a recurring object in Sepuya’s work, rests on top of a tripod and is used to insight discussion of the origin of the vis-à-vis lenses, concept of self-absorption, and pictorial space.
Paul Mpagi Sepuya at Bortolami
January 10—March 1, 2025
“Behind the Bedroom Door”
James Cohan
48 Walker Street & 291 Grand Street
Dana Sherwood, “Swan, Serpent, Pomegranate,” 2024, glazed stoneware with gold lustre, 16 x 8 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches, courtesy of the artist and James Cohan.
Jesse Mockrin, “Little Death,” 2024, painting on paper, 20 1/2 x 16 1/8 inches, 52.1 x 41 cm, photo by Dan Bradica, courtesy of the artist and James Cohan.
The group exhibition, “Behind the Bedroom Door,” uses painting, photography, sculpture, video, and sound to explore the dimension of dreams and fantasies. Presented by James Cohan, artwork by historical and contemporary artists like Diane Arbus, Sophie Calle, Louis Fratino, Lee Friedlander, Yinka Shonibare CBE, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Lisa Yuskavage, and many more dive into the realms of the unconscious, and explore both mythology and transformation. The exhibition utilizes doors to symbolize transitions of stepping into new possibilities, facing challenges, or hesitation to move forward. The opening reception will take place on January 10 from 4-6 PM at the gallery’s Walker Street location.
Why we love it: The personality and individual perceptions of each artist shine through their chosen medium and storytelling, depicting a dreamy exploration of the unconscious.
Behind the Bedroom Door at James Cohan
January 10—February 8, 2025
