must see fall gallery shows new york 2682575

The article highlights four must-see fall gallery shows in New York City for September-October 2025. It features Mercedes Matter's first solo show at Berry Campbell, reviving the overlooked Abstract Expressionist; Julio Torres's theatrical debut "Color Stories" at Performance Space New York; Gabrielle Garland's first New York solo exhibition at Miles McEnery Gallery, showcasing surreal suburban paintings; and Omar Ba's exhibition "Promises and Glory" at Templon, presenting fantastical mixed-media works.

yun fei ji james cohan 2722254

Chinese artist Yun-Fei Ji presents a new body of work in the exhibition “Riding the Tiger” at James Cohan Gallery in New York. The paintings draw on archetypes from Chinese folklore and the 16th-century novel *Journey to the West*, blending fantastical imagery with recognizable human scenes to explore the psychological and spiritual dimensions of migration. Works such as *The Sweep Up of Animal Spirits* and *The Round Up #1* directly reference the persecution of immigrants by government agencies, using symbols like tigers, buddhas, and livestock to critique power structures.

American artist Lauren Halsey’s “sister dreamer” sculpture park opens in Los Angeles.

American artist Lauren Halsey’s “sister dreamer” sculpture park opens in Los Angeles.

American artist Lauren Halsey has opened a new public sculpture park titled "sister dreamer" in Los Angeles. The installation, located in the city's historic West Adams neighborhood, features a series of large-scale, fantastical architectural forms that draw on Afrofuturism and the visual culture of the local community.

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs celebrates France’s ‘king of fashion’, who married haute couture to art

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris is presenting a new exhibition, *Paul Poiret: Fashion is a Feast*, dedicated to the early 20th-century French couturier who styled himself the “King of Fashion.” The show draws on the museum’s extensive Poiret collection, spanning from the Belle Époque through the 1920s, and features his garments alongside photographs, drawings, posters, and illustrations. It traces Poiret’s career from his start at the House of Worth to his independent house, his collaborations with artists such as Raoul Dufy and Maurice de Vlaminck, and his exotic inspirations from travels in Europe and North Africa.

Yang Fudong’s Memory Palace

Yang Fudong has opened his largest solo exhibition to date, 'Fragrant River,' at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. The show features over 30 works and eight hours of video, including major new installations like the five-channel 'Young Man, Young Man' and the furniture-and-video piece 'Breastfeeding,' which immerse viewers in scenes from the artist's hometown of Xianghe.

"Bertille Bak: Voices from the Earth" exhibition at the Vincenzo Vela Museum

From 26 April 2026 to 10 January 2027, the Vincenzo Vela Museum in Ligornetto, Switzerland, presents "Bertille Bak: Voices from the Earth," the first major solo exhibition in Switzerland of French artist Bertille Bak. The show brings together works from the past fifteen years that combine cinema, visual arts, and field research, focusing on marginalized communities and themes of labor, identity, and resistance. Bak, born in Arras in 1983, creates video installations and narrative devices through long immersions in communities, with her work held in collections such as the Centre Pompidou and the Collection François Pinault.

Flowers, Figures & Fantastical Frames at the 2026 Dallas Art Fair

Jessica Fuentes and Brandon Zech, returning to the 2026 Dallas Art Fair, found the event familiar rather than surprising. Fuentes noted that after attending major fairs like Frieze, NADA, and the Armory Show, many works by Texas galleries felt recognizable. Zech observed an overarching theme of flora and fauna, with flower paintings dominating both the art and attendees' fashion. Fuentes, however, was drawn to figurative pieces, influenced by her recent visit to Mexico City Art Week. Standout works included Jessica Vollrath's painting "A thousand hills" at Erin Cluley Gallery, which marked a stylistic shift in color and composition.

Take a walk on the wild side with the Haas Brothers' fantastical new show

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York has opened "Uncanny Valley," a major exhibition dedicated to the Los Angeles-based duo Nikolai and Simon Haas. The show features 85 works spanning 15 years of their practice, showcasing their signature blend of art, furniture, and craft through zoomorphic sculptures and kooky forms. Organized in collaboration with the Cranbrook Art Museum, the exhibition places these physical objects against surreal, algorithmically-generated backdrops that explore the intersection of human craftsmanship and digital technology.

Show on fantastical neoclassicist Johan Tobias Sergel heads to Stockholm and New York

A major exhibition dedicated to the 18th-century Swedish neoclassical sculptor and draughtsman Johan Tobias Sergel is opening in two parts. 'Fantasy and Reality' premieres at Stockholm's Nationalmuseum this month, featuring nearly 400 works, before traveling to the Morgan Library & Museum in New York in the autumn for the artist's first US monographic show.

A Parade of Floating Artworks Honors Hieronymus Bosch in the Netherlands

The 2026 Bosch Parade will return to the Dommel river in ’s-Hertogenbosch from June 18 to 21, featuring nineteen new floating artworks inspired by the theme "Powered by Defects." This biennial event pays tribute to the surrealist legacy of Hieronymus Bosch, the city's most famous son, by inviting international artists to create fantastical aquatic installations. The program includes the "Garden of Earthly Delights," an open-air studio at the Citadel where visitors can interact with artists as they develop their contemporary interpretations of Bosch’s fascination with human imperfection and the absurd.

Gaudí’s fantastical house in Barcelona is now home to a new art space

Casa Batlló, Antoni Gaudí's iconic Art Nouveau house in Barcelona, has opened a new contemporary art gallery called Casa Batlló Contemporary. The 230-square-meter space, designed by local studio Mesura, occupies previously inaccessible rooms on the building's second floor and will host two exhibitions annually, aiming to explore Gaudí's vision through contemporary creativity.

Blood, mud and cobwebs create ache of heartbreak at Asian Art Museum

Artist Rina Banerjee has opened a major solo exhibition, "Make Me a Summary of the World," at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The immersive installation features fantastical sculptures and environments constructed from materials like blood-red resin, mud, feathers, and synthetic cobwebs, exploring themes of migration, colonialism, and diaspora.

Ladders take flight at latest Dixon exhibition

The Dixon Gallery & Gardens in Memphis is hosting a free exhibition titled "Ladders Take Flight" featuring works by artists Dolph Smith and Colleen Couch, on view until June 29. The show presents a fantastical world of ladder-inspired sculptures and mixed-media pieces, inviting visitors to explore imaginative forms and narratives.