Top New York Exhibitions: Rashid Johnson, William Kentridge, and More 

While visiting the lively art fairs on view in New York this spring, be sure to make time for a procession of impactful gallery presentations shining light on era-defining artists including Rashid Johnson, Amy Sherald, Kennedy Yanko, William Kentridge, and more. 

Rashid Johnson

Guggenheim

Upper East Side

On April 18 at the illustrious Guggenheim New York, an enveloping solo presentation by visionary Rashid Johnson voyages through over 90 artworks, an outdoor sculpture, and site-specific new pieces. Creatively titled “Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers,” the mid-career survey ebbs and flows throughout the museum’s iconic white rotunda, and is enhanced by live performance programming alongside local community organizations.

What we love: The expansive show marks Johnson’s inaugural solo exhibition at the legendary art institution, and includes standout series such as The New Negro Escapist Social and Athletic Club, Cosmic Slops, black-soap shelf paintings, spray- painted text works, and much more.

Rashid Johnson at the Guggenheim
April 18 – January 18, 2026

Amy Sherald

The Whitney

Meatpacking District

Farigoers in New York this spring will not want to miss the masterful Amy Sherald at The Whitney Museum of American Art. The artist’s inaugural major museum survey delves into the nuances of her prismatic, trademark portraits, as well as her astounding influence on international contemporary art. Titled “Amy Sherald: American Sublime,” nearly 50 paintings from 2007 to present day are at once united, championing Black Americans in a realm that has historically left them hushed and invisible. 

What we love: Renowned portraits of First Lady Michelle Obama, Breonna Taylor, and more are stunningly on view, encouraging viewers to viscerally connect with the individual as well as the intricacies and evolutions of American identity. 

Amy Sherald at The Whitney
April 9 – Aug 10, 2025

Kennedy Yanko

Salon 94

Upper East Side

Artist Kennedy Yanko’s latest exhibition at Salon 94, “Retro Future,” invokes the majesty of ancient Greek and Roman figures, as well as soaring metal sculptures from the 1940s and 50s by sharp American creatives. “My color washes, monochrome paint skins, found metal skeletons and shadow perspectives respectively call upon abstract expressionism, color field painting, a post-minimalist sensibility and the light and space vernacular; they all coexist as a whole, unsequenced,” said Yanko.

What we love: New painted skin works reveal mesmerizing motifs and bursts of color. Talisman (2024) stands tall as a nearly six-foot-high relief brimming with tender homages to classic Hollywood films and virtuoso artists like Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Gilliam, and Clyfford Still. 

Kennedy Yanko at Salon 94
April 5 – May 17, 2025

Kennedy Yanko

James Cohan

Tribeca

At 48 Walker Street in New York, James Cohan raises the curtain on “Epithets” by Kennedy Yanko. The artist’s inaugural show with the revered gallery invites audiences to take a closer look at transformational works of abstraction and figuration. Seductive sculptures harness the gentle and the rigid, juxtaposing a diverse array of materials and traditions such as Abstract Expressionism and Arte Povera. “For the first time in a long time, the work is guttural,” said Yanko. “I dropped down into the dark place within me and dared to look under the hood, at what I knew was seething there but couldn’t bear to confront for fear of what might ooze out and stick…I can’t separate myself from my shadow, and the metal and paint skin can’t seem to escape each other…” 

“For the first time in a long time, the work is guttural,”

Kennedy Yanko

What we love: New works like Lost lagoon (2024) and Church hat (2024) raise color to a divine level, revealing the artist’s dexterity with shaping paint skins, and the rich hues cascade across gracefully bent steel. 

Kennedy Yanko at James Cohan
April 5 – May 10, 2025

Jack Whitten

MoMA

Midtown

This spring, MoMA debuts the very first broad retrospective of famed American artist Jack Whitten (1939–2018). Within the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Center for Special Exhibitions, “Jack Whitten: The Messenger” offers a deep dive into nearly 60 years of dazzling artistic explorations with over 175 creations. Prepare to be immersed in momentous archival materials, sculptures, paintings, and rarely seen works on paper. “Jack Whitten’s art is visionary, even prophetic,” said Michelle Kuo, Chief Curator at Large and Publisher. “He connected painting to photography, sculpture, printmaking, music, and new technologies. He created monumental works that confront watershed moments in history, from the Civil Rights movement to the discovery of new galaxies. Whitten defied traditional boundaries between abstraction and representation, race and nation, culture and technology, individual identity and global history. He made art matter in a world in turmoil.”

“Jack Whitten’s art is visionary, even prophetic,”

Michelle Kuo

What we love: The essential presentation deeply honors Whitten’s groundbreaking abstract style—with iconic 1970s paintings like Siberian Salt Grinder (1974) on view—which forever altered the threads between society, memory, and art. 

Leiko Ikemura

Lisson Gallery

Chelsea

Artist Leiko Ikemura’s inaugural solo show with Lisson Gallery, titled “Talk to the sky, seeking light,” traverses three decades of thematic explorations and diverse mediums. Lush paintings in tempera make way for spellbinding glass works and bronze figures, while a grand installation is placed at the heart of the presentation. Usagi Janus (2025) unfolds as a rapturous rabbit/woman which has been meticulously hand-sculpted and hand-patinated, evoking ambiguity and spirituality. 

What we love: The artist’s signature young female characters are seen in works like Brave Girls (2022) and Pièta in Cherry Red (2024), imparting an impactful narrative of innocence, adolescence, and intensity. 

Leiko Ikemura at Lisson Gallery
May 1 – August 1, 2025

William Kentridge

Hauser & Wirth

Chelsea

Visionary William Kentridge’s first show with Hauser & Wirth in New York, “A Natural History of the Studio” will unfold across two locales: 542 West 22nd Street and 443 West 18th Street. The South African creative unveils his prominent Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot film series alongside over 70 works on paper, a parade of sculptures, and prints. Each gem exhibits Kentridge’s trademark wit while fiercely interlacing the personal and the political.

What we love: Devoted collaborator Sabine Theunissen led the creation of the show’s first floor installation design at 22nd Street, featuring the magnetic charcoal drawings which supported the animation within Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot. 

William Kentridge at Hauser & Wirth
May 1 – August 1, 2025

Salman Toor

Luhring Augustine

Chelsea and Tribeca

“Wish Maker” by artist Salman Toor will be on view at Luhring Augustine this spring, with paintings shown at the Chelsea gallery and works on paper debuting at the Tribeca location. The tender creative probes facets of fragility within the queer, diasporic identity, as well as in contemporary private and public spheres. Fresh etchings, drawings, and paintings introduces viewers to both fantastical and grounded figures which journey through the enigmas and contradictions of the 21st century. 

What we love: Enchanting artworks balance the comforting and the agonizing in expressive visages, ethereal colorways, and knowing exchanges. 

Salman Toor at Luhring Augustine
May 2 – June 21, 2025