A City After Hours: Museum of the City of New York Announces Artists for New York Now: After Dark 

Media Contact: Chris Gorman, pressoffice@mcny.org | 917.492.3482 

NEW YORK, NY (May 13, 2026) — The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is pleased to announce the artists who will participate in its upcoming triennial exhibition, New York Now: After Dark. The triennial, which began in 2023, is dedicated to showcasing the best of contemporary photography, engaging with themes and issues of New York City through the photographic medium, while also reflecting on the city's past and future. 

Scheduled to open to the public on November 20, 2026, New York Now: After Dark will explore the vibrant and multifaceted nightlife of New York City through the lens of contemporary photography. The exhibition is co-curated by Marina Chao and Sean Corcoran, the Museum’s Senior Curator of Prints and Photography. 

New York Now: After Dark will delve into what nightfall means to New Yorkers. Once the sun goes down on the five boroughs, the city transforms into a realm of possibility, mystery, and freedom, where inhibitions wane and ambitions grow. For some, the night is a time for work and commerce, while for others, it offers a chance for leisure, entertainment, and social gatherings. These contrasting worlds collide in a unique, electric energy that defines New York City after dark. 

In collaboration with Corcoran, Chao has curated a dynamic exhibition that captures the essence of New York’s nightlife and its complex layers. The exhibition brings together both established and emerging artists, including Adam Pape, Anh Nguyen, Ashley Gilbertson, Avion Pearce, Charles Hamilton James, D’Angelo Lovell Williams, Darryl DeAngelo Terrell, David Johnson, Destiny Mata, Dina Litovski, DRIFT, Elle Peréz, Guarionex Rodriguez, Jr., Hiroyuki Ito, Janette Beckman, Kate Vitali, Ken Schles, Kia Lebejia, Landon Nordeman, Liz Deschenes, Luis Carle, Lynn Saville, Mahka Eslami, Matthew Pillsbury, Melanie Einzig, Michael McWeeney, Reuben Radding, Saint Piñero, Susannah Ray, Theo Wenner, Todd Heisler, Tomiko Jones, and Tommy Kha, among others, offering a nuanced visual narrative of New York’s nocturnal landscape.  

Marina Chao is currently curator at CPW in Kingston, New York and brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role, having previously held curatorial positions at the International Center of Photography and the Museum of Modern Art. As Assistant Curator at ICP, she organized the exhibition Multiply, Identify, Her (2018) and contributed to the publication Public, Private, Secret: On Photography and the Configuration of Self (Aperture and ICP, 2018). She was also awarded a 2019 Curatorial Research Fellowship from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for a project exploring the intersections of images, language, and technology. Her background in contemporary photography has been an essential asset in shaping the exhibition. 

"We are excited to present this remarkable group of artists in New York Now: After Dark," said Stephanie Hill Wilchfort, Ronay Menschel Director and President of the Museum of the City of New York. "Together, their work captures the ever-evolving spirit of New York after dark—its energy, diversity, and complexity—and offers a compelling portrait of the city at night." 

"New York City’s nights are charged with emotional and social electricity that photography can uniquely express," said Marina Chao. "The artists in this exhibition engage deeply with the city’s nocturnal spaces and the people who inhabit them, revealing a wide range of perspectives on what the night makes possible." 

Sean Corcoran added, "This group of artists brings an extraordinary range of approaches to photographing New York after dark. Their work reflects the intersections of culture, technology, and lived experience that shape the city at night, and together they create a vivid and multifaceted exploration of its nightlife." 

New York Now: After Dark is the second installment of the New York Now series, which began with New York Now: Home in 2023. The inaugural show featured the lens-based work of 33 artists, including Xyza Cruz Bacani, Roy Baizan, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, Cinthya Santos Briones, Alan Chin, Jamel Shabazz, Laila Annemarie Stevens, Nolan Ryan Trowe, Elias Williams, and many others. 

New York Now: After Dark is made possible by our sponsors, Elizabeth K. Belfer, the Grace Mayer Conservation Fund, and the Abbott Circle founded by Trustee Jennifer Marrus.

About the Museum of the City of New York
The Museum of the City of New York celebrates and interprets the city’s history, art, popular culture, and civic life, highlighting New York’s influence worldwide. Founded in 1923 as a private, nonprofit corporation, the Museum serves 200,000 visitors from around the world through exhibitions, school and public programs, publications, and collections.

Image: New York City views. Night view south from RCA Building. Samuel H. Gottscho, 1933. Museum of the City of New York, 88.1.1.3027.