NYC art shows you don't want to miss

New York is a city of artists. It's a place where great artists are born or apprenticed, and a magnet for global talent anxious to find an audience. With over 1,400 galleries, the city's artistic scene is almost overwhelming. And as summer gives way to fall, many venues are preparing to welcome the season with outstanding exhibitions.

At The Surrey, we want you to experience the best of New York culture, but sifting for cultural gold is never simple. To help you plan your itinerary, here are five of the most exciting shows for October 2025.

Slyvia Snowden at White Cube (November-December 2025)

In October at the White Cube, featured artist Sylvia Snowden is best-known for expressionistic canvases using thick impasto to conduct a symphony of sculptural textures. This magnificent how serves as a capstone to a fine career, as Snowden delves deep into the African-American and feminist experience.

Snowden's work is grounded in resilience and lived experience yet carries an abstract freedom that resists easy definition. Over decades, she has built a body of art that both challenges and captivates, with each bold brushstroke offering a glimpse into a world shaped by emotion and memory.

The White Cube presents a retrospective for newcomers and long-time admirers. Expect a dazzling collection of seminal works at the Madison Avenue culture hub, just a short walk from The Surrey, A Corinthia Hotel.

David Byrne's Solo Exhibition at Pace Gallery (April 10-December 31, 2025)

Most famous for his musical work with Talking Heads, David Byrne has crafted a multimedia artistic career, ranging from genre-defining pop to experimental film and intriguingly personal visual creations.

Byrne's latest show at the Pace Gallery in Chelsea (540 West 25th Street) promises a banquet of imagination and wit from one of New York's great modern storytellers. Previous installations have transformed bicycles into musical instruments, explored the surprising artistic potential of PowerPoint, and challenged the biases behind every day thought.

This year, the Pace Gallery has enlisted Byrne to create a series of playful paintings on the gallery stairwell. Sure to encapsulate the artist's freewheeling sensibility, the stairwell will offer a surrealistic twist alongside typically inventive mixed media works that invite participation.

Rashid Johnson A Poem for Deep Thinkers at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (April 18, 2025-January 18, 2026)

Thought-provoking and challenging work is guaranteed at the Guggenheim's Rashid Johnson exhibition (1071 5th Avenue). Chicago-born Johnson brings a unique perspective on race and class - creating a dialogue between formal beauty, experimentation, and everyday social reality.

Dubbed a "Poem for Deep Thinkers" Johnson's 2025 show gathers over 90 works showcasing the artist's innovative approach to materials. Shea butter and black soap appear on his works, which vary from miniatures to grand-scale installations that double as musical performance spaces.

In fact, Johnson's show runs alongside a program of cultural events and piano recitals on Friday and Saturday. Visit then for a mesmerizing blend of the visual and the auditory, before exploring the Guggenheim's many sublime artworks.

Marina Zurkow Parting Worlds at The Whitney Museum of American Art (April 9, 2025-January 11, 2025)

American artist Marina Zurkow specializes in bringing together seemingly impossible combinations that, in her expert hands, become captivating companions. Hosted by the Whitney Museum (99 Gansevoort St), "Parting Worlds" explores the liminal region between culture and nature, touching on our fraught but beautiful connection to planet Earth.

In keeping with previous Zurkow exhibitions, Parting Worlds mainly takes place on screen via intricately coded moving images. Animations capture the extraction of minerals, the fate of rivers, and the endless interplay between man and environment. The images create a space for relaxed reflection, while provoking and challenging viewers to see the world anew.

The Whitney itself remains one of NYC's most celebrated cultural landmarks and is always a pleasure to visit. Its galleries have championed American innovation since the 1930s. Its curators continue to spotlight artists who push boundaries of form and thought. In other words, it is the perfect venue for Zurkow's restless creativity.

Against Time: The Noguchi Museum 40th Anniversary Reinstallation at The Noguchi Museum (August 28, 2024 – January 11, 2026)

Our final selection is also a celebration. October 2025 marks 40 years of the Noguchi Gallery and a festive retelling of its rise to become one of NYC's premier single artist museums. Located in Astoria, NY, the museum displays work by Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), whose minimalist take on sculpture and design remains hugely influential.

Visitors to the 2025 anniversary reinstallation will enjoy a gorgeous collection of the artist's iconic Akari light sculptures and Noguchi's refined Japanese-style garden. The second-floor space also hosts over 60 rarely seen works from the permanent collection, resulting in a comprehensive retrospective.

The exhibition also follows the guidelines in 1987's "The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum" (which acts as a catalogue for the show). 40 years in the making, "Against Time" finally realizes the vision of a modern master, making it one of the true must-see exhibitions on NYC's October art scene.

Plan an artistic odyssey this October

October is a wonderful time to visit New York's museums and galleries. The summer crowds have relented, leaving the stage for serious aesthetes to savor masterpieces and reflect at their leisure. As we have seen, there are plenty of appealing shows for your schedule.

Whether you pick a couple of events or one catches your eye, The Surrey is ready to book tickets and provide a space to recharge your energy in between events.