Art installations are a distinct form of art that can be created not only indoors but also outdoors, often in popular public spaces. They range from traditional sculpture-like forms to more sophisticated mixed-media artworks that may employ a mix of conventional and digital tools. If you want to explore cutting-edge installation art, here is a 2025 guide to some of the upcoming contemporary art installation events in New York.
Top 3 Contemporary Art Installation Events to Visit in New York in 2025
Interested in unusual installations? Take a closer look at the following events.
“Ceremonies Out of the Air: Ralph Lemon” at MoMA PS1
“Ceremonies Out of the Air: Ralph Lemon” is an ongoing exhibition at MoMA PS1 in NYC, which will run through March 24, 2025, so you still have time to attend it and get to know the art of Ralph Lemon better. The interdisciplinary master gained popularity in the 1990s as an iconic figure of New York’s downtown art scene. “Ceremonies Out of the Air” is quite an unusual show, as it includes a series of live performative storytelling and postmodern dance performances. The action takes place alongside a variety of artworks, from paintings to sculptures to video installations, inviting the audience to explore the human body as a site for intersecting historical and artistic elements.
“Renée Green: The Equator Has Moved” at Dia Beacon
“The Equator Has Moved” is an exhibition by the conceptual artist Renee Green, which starts at Dia Beacon in Beacon, NY, on March 7, 2025. It offers a unique experience to all viewers by familiarizing the audiences with a variety of innovative conceptual art strategies. Using archival and documentary materials, literary fiction, and personal art pieces, Green has created a series of works to explore the ephemerality of art and the verge between fact and fiction. The contemporary art installation represents an intricate interplay of color, sound, and language on text-based fabric banners. The visitors can also explore a variety of personal audio and video recordings from Green’s archives.
“Otobong Nkanga: Cadence” at MoMA
Another interesting art installation is on view at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in NYC through June 8, 2025. It is a solo exhibition of the Nigerian-Belgian contemporary artist Otobong Nkanga, which is dedicated to complex social and ecological themes. Viewers are exposed to a rich collection of immersive sound works and poems of Nkanga’s authorship, printed on ceramic tablets. The artist also presents her signature sculptures – artworks suspended throughout space to symbolize the intricate interconnections between people and the planet. The installation space gets unified with dyed ropes and hand-blown glass forms, thus building a holistic immersive environment with a unique aesthetic feel.
Interested in any of the events we’ve just discussed? Make sure to book a ticket to the exhibition in advance and explore contemporary art in all its complexity.