One New Year’s resolution that should be on everyone’s list this year is more trips to the museum. According to a recent study, there is a link between art consumption and living a longer life. If you didn’t have the art thing down on your list, that’s okay. 2020 is still in its infancy. It’s only mid-way through January. There’s plenty of time to get on course, especially if you live in New York City. In fact, we’re here to help you on your road to longevity. Below are five fabulous, must-see art exhibits in NYC museums that you can visit right now.

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member: Pope.L, 1978-2001
at the Museum of Modern Art
October 21, 2019 to February 1, 2020

The Museum of Modern Art changed the conversation on performance art in the 2010s with some fantastic retrospectives. The museum kicked off the decade with its landmark Marina Abramović survey, The Artist Is Present. The record-breaking show made the artist a household name. In 2015, they mounted Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971. The exhibit gave Ono her historical due, recognizing her as a pioneering performance artist. MoMA later followed up Ono’s retrospective with Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983. The 2017 multidisciplinary survey resurrected the downtown New York alternative space.

Now, a newly expanded MoMA ends the decade with another splendidly curated retrospective member: Pope.L, 1978-2001. Pope.L has dabbled in many mediums but is best known for his provocative and humorous performance-based works that question our belief systems and explore divisions in society. MoMA’s show dives into his early years and assembles videos, photographs, sculptural elements, and ephemera. The artist also haunts the exhibit, stopping by to re-stage works, lurk amongst the crowd, and draw figures on the walls. He also provides the commentary for the audio guide.

member is part of Pope.L: Instigation, Aspiration, Perspiration, a trio of complementary exhibitions in New York City celebrating the visionary artist. Public Art Fund organized Pope.L: Conquest, a collective performance inspired by the artist’s seminal crawls. And, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art through March 8, 2020 is Choir, a new installation that expands on the artist’s ongoing interest in water.

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Hans Haacke: All Connected
at the New Museum
October 24, 2019 to January 26, 2020

A museum exhibition devoted to Hans Haacke is a little like letting the fox in the henhouse. The 83-year-old German-born artist’s practice involves institutional critique, which includes poking at museums and their donors. This doesn’t seem to phase the New Museum, however. In fact, Hans Haacke: All Connected is the second show they’ve hosted dedicated to the artist. The first was Hans Haacke: Unfinished Business in 1986. But what isn’t surprising is that the current show is the first American museum survey since the 1986 show. Clearly, not all American museums are as brave as the New Museum.

All Connected is a career-spanning retrospective that highlights the through-line of this work; Haacke’s interest in connections, networks, and systems. The show begins with his early kinetic artworks involving mundane materials that have their own ecosystems. From there, the exhibit displays how Haacke’s practice evolved to looking at systems more broadly. Through conceptual artworks, he examined the inner workings of museums and then expanded to critiquing social systems.

Included in the show is the New York debut of Gift Horse (2014), an imposing site-specific bronze sculpture originally created for London’s Fourth Plinth program. Also of note, on the fifth floor, you can take part in one of the artist’s infamous surveys. UPDATE 1/23: Someone hacked Haacke’s New Museum survey. Read more about the hacking here.

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Darren Bader: Fruits, Vegetables; Fruit and Vegetable Salad
at the Whitney Museum of American Art
January 15-February 17, 2020

Darren Bader, “fruits, vegetables; fruit and vegetable salad”

This installation has market value. Darren Bader’s edible exhibition feeds a small army of museum-goers. Inhabiting the Whitney’s eighth floor, Bader’s artwork comes from the museum’s permanent collection. Upon exiting the elevator, visitors encounter a display of fruits and vegetables, where each food item has been carefully placed on its own pedestal. At designated times, the museum removes the fruits and vegetables from their stands and brings them to the Whitney’s Studio Cafe. Foodservice staff then create a large salad that visitors are invited to eat. The next day, the fruits and vegetables are replenished, and the cycle starts over again. If eating healthy is one of your resolutions, then hitting up this exhibit kills two birds with one stone.

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JR: Chronicles
at the Brooklyn Museum
October 4, 2019 to May 3, 2020

JR, “The Chronicles of NYC” (2018-2019) (Detail)

The Brooklyn Museum has gone all-in on French-born photographer and street artist JR with a sprawling retrospective that occupies over 20,000 square feet of the museum’s Grand Hall. The show is not only the first major survey of works by JR in North America, but it is also the largest solo museum exhibition of the 36-year-old artist to date. JR’s revolutionary approach to public art and photography is traced from his early days documenting his graffiti artist crew through to his wheat-pasted street portraiture projects and massive architectural interventions. Through his work, JR helps communities heal and encourages discussions on issues such as immigration, women’s rights, and gun control.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is JR’s dazzling collective portrait of New York City titled The Chronicles of New York City. The work is a mural featuring over 1,000 people JR photographed and interviewed in the city during the summer of 2018.

Seemingly one of the warmest and most optimistic humans on the planet, the dark sunglass-wearing artist has included posters in the show that invite museum-goers to text him. If you want to get in touch, his number is 917-336-5099.

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Illusions of the Photographer: Duane Michals
at The Morgan Library & Museum
October 25, 2019 to February 2, 2020

Another radical photographer being celebrated in the city is Duane Michals. The 87-year-old self-described “expressionist” is the subject of an enchanting exhibit at the Morgan Library & Museum. Throughout his career, Michals’ interest has been to capture what something feels like rather than what it looks like. To this end, the artist writes in the margins of his prints, uses sequential images to convey intangible mental states, and leans into blurs and technical errors. He has stated that his value as a photographer is to contradict the viewer.

Illusions of the Photographer is intimate yet robust, offering a window into the artist’s imagination by presenting a range of work from throughout his career. It also includes an artist’s choice show. For this section, the museum allowed Michals to comb through its archives.

Photo credit: Pope.L. The Great White Way, 22 miles, 9 years, 1 street. 2000-09. Performance. © Pope. L. Courtesy of the artists and Mitchell – Innes & Nash, New York.