From reimagining chinoiserie to looking for “the world of the soul” by means of nature, a lot nice artwork is about seeing our world in a different way. The exhibitions under put this ultimate into follow in varied methods. Hilma af Klint’s botanical drawings are lovely and engaging departures from her celebrated summary work, however they proceed to replicate the artist’s spiritualism. On the opposite finish of the spectrum, Edward Burtynsky’s god’s-eye-view images of the Earth’s floor would possibly really feel alienating, however Louis Bury finds, in his overview, that the artist’s small, intimate photos forge a connection between humankind and our ecological actuality. In the meantime, a bunch present addressing ecology on the Swiss Institute is filled with visible surprises and thought experiments. And Monstrous Magnificence at The Met is an achievement in extricating the artwork of chinoiserie from racialized and exoticized tropes. Earlier than you see it, make certain to learn Anne Anlin Cheng’s insightful essay on the present. —Natalie Haddad, Opinions Editor
Monstrous Magnificence: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie
Metropolitan Museum of Artwork, 1000 Fifth Avenue, Higher East Facet, ManhattanThrough August 17
Movie nonetheless of Patty Chang, “Melons (at a loss)” (1998), on view in Monstrous Magnificence (2025) on the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork (picture courtesy the artist)
“Underpinning the exhibition is the implicit question: How does something as superficial as style become the foundation for imagining human value and embodiment?” —Anne Anlin Cheng
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Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers
Museum of Trendy Artwork, 11 West 53rd Avenue, ManhattanThrough September 27
Hilma af Klint, “Violet blossoms with guidelines” (1919) (photograph Natalie Haddad/Hyperallergic)
“[The drawings] attest to the persistence of nature in the face of climate change, war, and humanity’s increasing disconnection from the Earth.” —NH
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Edward Burtynsky: The Nice Acceleration
Worldwide Middle of Images, 84 Ludlow Avenue, Decrease East Facet, ManhattanThrough September 28
Edward Burtynsky, “Modjo-Hawassa Expressway #1, Alem Tena, Ethiopia” (2018) (© Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York)
“For decades, Burtynsky has pursued research leads around the globe to capture yet more examples of civilization’s terraforming.” —Louis Bury
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Spora
Swiss Institute, 38 St Marks Place, East Village, ManhattanThrough Could 10, 2026
Artwork by Li Tavor put in in a stairwell as a part of Spora on the Swiss Institute (photograph Natalie Haddad/Hyperallergic)
“Spora is subtler than the shows in the Swiss Institute’s galleries, but it lingers in the mind, its interconnections multiplying like spores.” —NH
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