NEW YORK—Summer in New York City can be a delightful time of year, but if it’s the contemporary art scene that you live for, then it’s the first week of September when the city regains its real vitality. This year is no different, with dozens of gallery and museum shows of every variety opening all over town. Here is an ARTINFO guide to some of the most tantalizing of the gallery offerings — though we couldn't resist throwing in one museum pick. (For the record, we didn’t set out to find shows that present the world’s darker side. It’s just that there happen to be a lot of them about all of a sudden.)

Click on the photo gallery to the left to see the seven picks for the new season.