MoMA PS1 is one of the oldest and largest nonprofit contemporary art institutions in the United States. An exhibition space rather than a collecting institution, MoMA PS1 devotes its energy and resources to displaying the most experimental art in the world. In Summer 2016, the institution celebrates its 40th anniversary with a full lineup of exhibitions and events.
Commemorative Exhibitions
FORTY, a new exhibition curated by MoMA PS1 founder Alanna Heiss, will present works by a group of artists critical in establishing MoMA PS1. Many of the artists also acted as participants in the institution’s inaugural exhibition, Rooms, in 1976. This exhibition proved to be a landmark moment in the history of contemporary art and to the alternative art space movement. FORTY includes both historic and new works both representative of the original mission of the institution and the site-specificity required to activate MoMA PS1’s unique architecture.
Gordon Matta-Clark, Contoured Xhibition Play Land for Queens of All seXs (Proposal for P.S.1, New York), 1976.
Meanwhile, VITO ACCONCI: WHERE WE ARE NOW (WHO ARE WE ANYWAY?), 1976 traces the early actions and performances of Vito Acconci--the provocative conceptual artist, writer and designer/architect—who was one of the first to exhibit at MoMA PS1 when it opened in 1976. Through video footage, photographs and other documentary materials, viewers will experience Acconci’s oeuvre throughout a critical turning point in which he developed his radical and subversive explorations of the human condition, sexuality, voyeurism, identity and physicality.
Both exhibitions open June 19 and run through the end of August.
Reproducing Vito Acconci’s Photo Archives
Duggal was privileged to work with MoMA PS1 in creating a rare opportunity for the public to revisit a modern master of conceptualism and performance art.
Duggal’s Brian Renaldo led our production team as we reproduced more than 1,200 prints from Vito Acconci’s archive ranging in size from 20x30 inches to mere centimeters. Automating a project that would have been nearly impossible for human hands to cut individually, our cutting edge flatbed printing and cutting technology enabled us to meet exact specifications, with perfect organization, in high volume, on quick turnaround.
A Storied History
P.S.1 (now MoMA PS1) was founded in 1971 by Alanna Heiss as the Institute for Art and Urban Resources Inc., an organization with the mission of turning abandoned, underutilized buildings in New York City into artist studios and exhibition spaces. In 1976, it opened the first major exhibition in its permanent location in Long Island City, Queens, with the seminal Roomsexhibition. For the next twenty years, the building was used as studio, performance, and exhibition spaces, in support of artists from around the world. After a building-wide renovation, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (now MoMA PS1) reopened in 1997. In 2000, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center became an affiliate of The Museum of Modern Art to extend the reach of both institutions, and combine MoMA PS1's contemporary mission with MoMA's strength as one of the greatest collecting museums of modern art. The merger was completed in 2010, when P.S.1 officially became MoMA PS1.
MoMA PS1 40th Anniversary Benefit Gala
MoMA PS1’s 40th Anniversary Benefit Gala will take place on Monday, June 20 at The Museum of Modern Art. Learn more and purchase tickets here.