Lower East Side | Weds
Equity Gallery, 245 Broome St, Transcender, art talks from 7pm
Half Gallery, 235 E 4th St, ‘Sammy’s’ by Tommy May, ‘One Foot in Eden’ by Maud Madsen
Kaliner, 42 Allen Street,, ‘Traces of Human Presence’ group show
Lower East Side | Thurs
Entrance, 48 Ludlow Street, ‘Nachtschicht’ by Nikola Burnett
Kapow Gallery, 23 Monroe St, ‘Her dogs no longer recognize her’ by Ali Sutton, 6pm-9pm
bitforms gallery, 131 Allen St, ’time is a flat circle’ with Erick Antonio Benitez, Ricardo Cabret, Lou Fauroux, and Umber Majeed
Tribeca | Thurs
GR Gallery, 116 Chambers St, work by Brian Robertson
East Village | Thurs
Aicon, 35 Great Jones St, Summer Nudes group show
14BC Gallery, 626 East 14th St, ‘Tutto Regola’ by Elisabetta Nitoglia, 5pm-9pm
Palo, 21 E 3rd St, ‘Facsimile’ by Hafsa Nouman
Tribeca | Fri
Ruttkowski;68, 46 Cortland Alley, Alley Cats with Antwan Horfee, Dennis Buck, Diego Prieto, Eddie Martinez, Eva Beresin, Francesco Igory Deiana, Frédéric Platéus, Geoff Davis, Heather Bause Rubinstein, Loren Munk, Luciano Calderon, Marika Thunder, Michael Günzer, Miguel Ángel Payano Jr., Mischa Kuball, Monica Kim Garza, Nicholas Krushenick, Parra, Prosper Legault, Robin Winters, Todd James, Trudy Benson
Dimin, 406 Broadway, recent paintings by Matt Phillips
Lower East Side | Fri
Nunu Fine Art, 381 Broome St, ‘Tactile Synchronicity: The End of Linear Time’ by Ya-Ting Kao
Lower East Side | Sat
Company, 145 Elizabeth St, ‘roach+world’ by Taeer M, ‘In the life’ by Aya Brown
Ulrik, 175 Canal Steet, Floor 3, ‘SUGAR CRASH’ by Hansi Fuchs
Tribeca | Sat
Arsenal Contemporary, 21 Cortlandt Alley, work by David Spriggs
New York’s downtown art scene is in peak summer form this week, with standout exhibitions across the Lower East Side, East Village, NoHo, SoHo, and Tribeca showcasing everything from emerging contemporary voices to museum-caliber historical surveys. Whether you’re gallery hopping through the LES, exploring artist-run spaces in the East Village, or visiting blue-chip exhibitions in Tribeca and SoHo, this week’s art listings offer a compelling snapshot of the city’s vibrant cultural landscape.
Leading this week’s highlights is Summer Nudes at Aicon Art in NoHo, a sweeping group exhibition that traces the evolution of the nude figure across South Asian and diasporic art from the 17th century to the present day. Bringing together more than thirty artists, the exhibition explores six interconnected themes—classical, abstract, erotic, body politics, self-portrait, and trauma—revealing how representations of the body have shifted across centuries, geographies, and political contexts.
Among the exhibition’s most significant works are paintings by featured artist Akbar Padamsee, one of the most influential figures of post-Independence Indian modernism. A key member of India’s progressive artistic movement, Padamsee’s explorations of form, sensuality, and human presence continue to resonate within contemporary conversations around identity and representation. His work appears alongside major artists including F. N. Souza, Avinash Chandra, Amrita Sher-Gil, Laxma Goud, Sadequain, Jayasri Burman, and Mequitta Ahuja, creating a rich dialogue between historical and contemporary approaches to the human figure.
Summer Nudes also marks the final exhibition at Aicon Art’s Great Jones Street location after nearly two decades in NoHo before the gallery relocates to Chelsea later this year. As both a landmark exhibition and a farewell to a beloved downtown space, the show offers a timely opportunity to experience the breadth and complexity of South Asian art through one of its most enduring subjects: the human body.
From ambitious group exhibitions and emerging artist debuts to celebrated modern masters, this week’s Lower Manhattan gallery guide offers plenty of reasons to spend an afternoon exploring New York City’s most dynamic art neighborhoods.
Featured work by Akbar Padamsee at Aicon
