This year has been filled with massive retrospectives and museum opening. These five artists have quieter shows running into the new year, across Miami, London, Paris, Venice, New York and Los Angeles, and each one is worth going out of your way for. Two of them are having their first solo show at a US or French institution, and all five are at a moment where it pays to start paying attention now.

Yuko Mohri: In Concert Installation view The Curve. 1 Oct 2026 - 24 Jan 2027, © Thomas Adank / Barbican Centre

Yuko Mohri

The Bass, Miami Beach | 17 September, 2026 – 30 May, 2027 | The Barbican, London | 1 October, 2026 –24 January, 2027

The Tokyo-based artist has two shows on two continents this fall. Unviolated Imperfection at The Bass is her first solo exhibition at a US museum, and it spans three galleries. In Piano Solo, recordings of waves along Miami Beach become notes played by a grand piano that runs on its own.

In London, In Concert takes over the Barbican's Curve gallery (above) with a new work made during a residency there. It opens with a new version of her Decomposition series, using lamps salvaged from the Barbican itself. Sensors plugged into fruit track its moisture as it decays, and the lamps pulse with the changes. Entry is free, and well worth the visit.

Mohammad Alfaraj, Dragonfly sculpture from “I’d rather be a dragonfly than a lion” (detail) courtesy of the Artist and Fondation Louis Vuitton

Mohammad Alfaraj

Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris | 9 October, 2026 – 18 January, 2027

Alfaraj was trained as a mechanical engineer and now works from the Al-Ahsa oasis in Saudi Arabia. His Open Space show, "I'd rather be a dragonfly than a lion", is his first solo exhibition at a French institution. New videos sit inside an installation of objects, photographs and drawings, with images of palm groves, desert and mountains alongside sand, wood and water.

He makes everything himself, from the writing to the characters, sets, filming and animation. The title says a lot: he picks the fragile dragonfly over the lion, choosing care and coexistence over power. Keep an eye on him, since Mathaf in Doha already has a solo show planned for 2028.

Amar Kanwar “Such a Morning” (Still, detail) (2017) Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery.

Amar Kanwar

Serpentine North, London | 23 September, 2026 – 31 January, 2027 | Palazzo Grassi, Pinault Collection, Venice | 29 March, 2026 - 10 January, 2027

The New Delhi filmmaker and artist has spent his career on the histories most people would rather skip past, including decolonisation and the partition of India and Pakistan. His Serpentine show premieres "The Charcoal Man", a new installation across seven screens.

If you're in Venice trying to get last looks in at the Biennale, Kanwar also has an installation at Palazzo Grassi, "The Peacock's Graveyard", part of the Pinault Collection. This cinematic experience meditates on the impermanence of life, and includes other works that put brutal histories under a magnifying glass.

Kanwar's work rewards time, so these are worth a visit when you can stay a while rather than squeeze in between other plans.

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Sable Elyse Smith “skin suit” (Still, detail) (2026) Courtesy of the Artist and FLAG Art Foundation

Sable Elyse Smith

The FLAG Art Foundation, New York | 24 September, 2026 – 13 February, 2027

"Clockwork" arrives in New York after opening at The Contemporary Austin this spring. Smith, born in Los Angeles in 1986 and based in New York, won the 2026 Suzanne Deal Booth / FLAG Art Foundation Prize, which comes with a $200,000 award and this two-city show. It's her most substantial institutional exhibition so far, bringing together sculpture, video, neon and photography from the past five years.

Her work looks at the prison-industrial complex and the systems that quietly shape everyday life. For the New York version, FLAG has turned the show into an immersive, stage-like space, and a catalogue follows in early 2027.

Installation view of Alexander Apóstol: Postura y geometría en la era de la autocracia tropical (Alexander Apóstol: Posture and geometry in the era of tropical autocracy) Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Alexander Apóstol

Alexander Apóstol

MOCA Grand Avenue, Los Angeles | 20 September, 2026 – 3 January, 2027

Apóstol was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, in 1969 and now lives in Madrid. His work looks at how art and political power in Latin America mirror and distort each other. "Regime: Dramatis Personae" (2017) plays like the cast list for a political drama, with each black-and-white portrait labelled by a role instead of a name, from The Dictator to The One from Hollywood.

Apóstol analyzed body language, gestures, and postures of real political and historical figures when creating his cast of characters. Inspired by his research into Latin American history, he draws on moments of independence, revolution, and repression, by using LGBTQ+ activists, who modeled for each of the portraits. Each time "Regime: Dramatis Personae" is shown, Apóstol chooses a selection of photos responding to recent events, such as the United States' intervention in Caracas in January 2026.

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Every one of these shows runs into the new year, so there's still time to catch them. And this is only the beginning: Mohri heads to Atelier Calder in France for a residency next fall, Smith's first catalogue arrives in early 2027, and Alfaraj already has a solo show lined up at Mathaf in Doha for 2028. Remember these names now, because you'll be hearing them again.