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“Desire and Seduction” by Sarah Charlesworth
When: Through March 29
Where: Paula Cooper Gallery
Why It’s Worth A Look: Through photographic cut-outs of hovering, sensual objects and bodies, the late conceptual artist Sarah Charlesworth made desire tangible. Among the array of materials on view at Paula Cooper are silk gowns, sculpted torsos, and flickering candles, all set against pitch-black backdrops.
Know Before You Go: Charlesworth attributed each color to a separate symbol of desire: red for sexual passion, black for dominance or death, green for natural growth, yellow for material value, or blue for spiritual or metaphorical desire.
“Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori”
When: Through April 12
Where: Karma
Why It’s Worth A Look: This vibrant retrospective at Karma spotlights the short but prolific practice of Kaiadilt painter Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori. The featured canvases' sprawling brush strokes are a topographical recollection of the late artist’s former home in Bentinck Island, Australia. Up close, the thick paint brings imagined landscapes to life, inviting viewers into this intimate corner of Gabori’s memory.
Know Before You Go: Gabori only began her painting practice in 2005, around the age of 81, and these works were completed in the last decade of her life.
“Madam Butterfly” by Emma McMillan
When: March 7 - April 19
Where: Sebastian Gladstone
Why It’s Worth A Look: Emma McMillan’s artistry offers a fresh and subversive take on the classic narrative of transformation, blending theatrical flair with a studied sense of restraint. Her abstractions drip and bloom with color, themselves evidence of the transformative power of the creative process.
Know Before You Go: The show's title evokes Puccini's classic opera Madama Butterfly, which charts the tragic collateral of a marriage between an American naval officer and a young Japanese woman at the turn of the last century.
“Facsimile” by Sharon Core
When: Through April 12
Where: Yancey Richardson
Why It’s Worth A Look: In a reversal of her usual still-life process, Sharon Core here paints from photographs. The artist is otherwise known for her photographic recreations of historical still-life paintings, but is switching the narrative to reinterrogate the relationship between the two mediums. For her photorealistic floral studies, featuring delicate sheer tulips and vivid roses, she uses ink on photo paper.
Know Before You Go: The key reference in this painterly pursuit is photographer Irving Penn’s Flowers, 1980, a celebrated study of flora at various stages of bloom and decay.
“Walking through eyelets of fear, Aberturas al caminar” by Daniela Gomez Paz
When: Through April 5
Where: Lyles & King
Why It’s Worth A Look: The world Daniela Gomez Paz crafts transcends our reality. Fabric, stones, and twigs become sculptural installations that carefully blend these found materials. As Pérez Art Museum Miami Associate Curator Maritza M. Lacayo notes, “They are reminiscent of something planetary—belonging in outer space, a world undiscovered.”
Know Before You Go: Gomez Paz’s work explores the dynamic, textural, and often knotty experiences that culminate in the self, refusing to be reductive and instead generating meaning through her layered mediums.
“God, Let Me Be Your Instrument” by Hannah Taurins
When: Through April 12
Where: Theta
Why It’s Worth A Look: Hannah Taurins deftly balances high-octane glam and old-school mysticism, conjuring a vortex of color, collage, and cultural nostalgia. It’s a witty homage to the unstoppable power of the divine feminine and its place in pop culture, here in the form of a series of new paintings.
Know Before You Go: Prepare for a dual-sided exploration of fervent devotion and fangirl fantasy; the exhibition merges spiritual longing with the giddy thrill of rock ‘n’ roll worship.
“Empty Rooms” by Joan Jonas
When: Through April 12
Where: Gladstone Gallery
Why It’s Worth A Look: "I didn’t see a difference between a poem, a sculpture, a film, or a dance," Joan Jonas writes in her 2015 monograph In the Shadow of a Shadow. "A gesture has for me the same weight as a drawing: draw, erase, draw, erase—memory erased." That boundary-breaking thrust is at the core of the renowned artist's latest presentation at Gladstone, where Jonas's many mediums entwine to transform the white cube into a living stage.
Know Before You Go: Jonas's frequent co-conspirator, musician Jason Moran, has reconfigured the score he originally composed for the artist's 2015 Venice Biennale performance, which is here excerpted in a video.
“Myth” by Justine Koons
When: Through March 29
Where: Salon 94
Why It’s Worth A Look: Justine Koons brings a spark of humor and irreverence to an otherwise lofty exercise, that of myth-making, offering an experience that’s both intellectually provocative and delightfully off-kilter. It’s a lively invitation to step beyond the ordinary, leaving you a little more wide-eyed than when you arrived.
Know Before You Go: Expect a playful collision of ancient allegories and contemporary pop flair—Koons’s “Myth” riffs on legendary icons and reimagines them with a wink. The show seamlessly weaves mythic figures into our everyday cultural tapestry, urging you to consider how these age-old tales still fuel our imaginations.
“Impersonal Unity Tools” by Frieda Toranzo Jaeger
When: March 14 - April 26
Where: Bortolami
Why It’s Worth A Look: Frieda Toranzo Jaeger’s fearless fusion of Mexican embroidery, oil painting, and 14th-century altar aesthetics fashions everyday implements into visions of collective liberation. You’ll leave feeling both unsettled and oddly invigorated—like you’ve stepped foot into a future that’s hanging in the balance.
Know Before You Go: Visitors should expect a vividly orchestrated clash of tools, fantasies, and flightless jets. Toranzo Jaeger's lavish, modular paintings—some doubling as quasi-religious “toolboxes”—crackle with a certain apocalyptic charm.
“The Spiritual World of Haiti” by Myrlande Constant
When: Through April 26
Where: Fort Gansevoort
Why It’s Worth A Look: The exquisite craftsmanship displayed in this show breathes new life into every sequined surface, inviting visitors to slow down and study each thread as part of a grander spiritual narrative. Folklore, faith, and careful stitching emphasize how stories truly come alive when viewed up close.
Know Before You Go: Brace yourself for an immersive dive into Haitian spirituality and storytelling, where Myrlande Constant’s vibrantly beaded tapestries shimmer with layers of cultural history and contemporary flair. Think of it as a kaleidoscopic blend of drapo Vodou tradition and modern artistry, one that demands more than just a passing glance.
“Becoming Animal” by Lyne Lapointe
When: Through April 12
Where: Jack Shainman
Why It’s Worth A Look: Lyne Lapointe’s compelling artistry sparks moments of recognition and disquiet, reminding us that the line between humans and nature is thinner than we like to think. The layered compositions the artist offers bring the natural world into the stark gallery space with found materials like coral, beehives, and pearls.
Know Before You Go: The show is a boundary-blurring exploration of our ties to the animal world, where Lapointe’s works slip between the human and the bestial with an uncanny grace. “Becoming Animal” fuses organic materials and conceptual gestures, challenging viewers to reconsider what truly separates us from our fellow creatures.
"Slow Definition" by Julie Beaufils
When: Through March 15
Where: Matthew Brown
Why It’s Worth A Look: Julie Beaufils’s paintings captivate with a heady balance of restraint and abandon, nudging you to look closer and question what lies beneath each flash of pigment. It’s a sensory escape that reminds us just how thrilling it can be to wander through the charged spaces between the seen and the felt.
Know Before You Go: Expect a color-soaked reverie made manifest by Beaufils’s expressive brushwork. The show at Matthew Brown orchestrates a visual conversation between subtle gestures and bold swaths of paint, hinting at underlying emotional tensions just beneath the surface.
