KAWS will debut a major exhibition at the New York Botanical Garden in spring 2027, featuring large-scale sculptures installed throughout the garden’s 250-acre grounds.
The New York Botanical Garden is not where you’d expect to find street art’s most recognizable silhouette. But come spring 2027, KAWS will install a suite of his towering sculptures and custom works across NYBG’s 250 acres, in what promises to be the artist’s most immersive show yet.
The Bronx garden has a track record of merging contemporary art with horticulture, but this is KAWS’s first full-scale outdoor exhibition in New York since his rise from graffiti underpasses to global museum circuits. His cast of melancholy cartoon-like figures, familiar to fashion week crowds and auction houses alike, will be recontextualized by a living, breathing backdrop of flora. Think less gallery, more open-air procession.
Exact works are still under wraps, but the artist is developing new pieces for the space, including installations inside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. The setting is key: everything will shift with the season, from cherry blossom bloom to early autumn fade, making this less a static display and more a slow-motion performance across time and landscape.
This announcement comes ahead of the 2026 Orchid Show, which will spotlight Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle, a floral riff on the city’s skyline. KAWS picks up the baton next, merging pop iconography with plant life on a scale that feels uniquely New York.
Exhibition details
KAWS at the New York Botanical Garden
Bronx, New York
May 22 – October 24, 2027
More information and ticket updates available at nybg.org
