If Manhattan's MoMA is Beyonce, MoMA PS1 is Solange – the edgier, up-and-coming little sister of an ultra-famous contemporary art institution. Join a cool crowd of culture vultures in Queens by debating the meaning of non-static sculptures or getting down at a summer dance party.
Breaking Boundaries
PS1 first hit the scene in 1976, when Alanna Heiss – a supporter of art in alternative spaces – took possession of an abandoned Renaissance Revival school building in Long Island City. She then invited artists like Richard Serra, James Turrell and Keith Sonnier to create site-specific works. The result was PS1's inaugural exhibition, Rooms.
A few remnants of that first show remain, including Turrell's heavenly Meeting, which frames the naked sky through a hole in the third floor's ceiling. The museum's gutsy beginnings are best encapsulated in Richard Artschwager's Exit–Don't Fight City Hall – a series of five bulbs painted with the word "exit" along a dead-end brick corridor. His piece is the cheeky response to a city law that forced the museum to add five exit signs throughout the building before opening to the public.
Contemporary Creations
Today, PS1 continues playing host to experimental and cutting-edge exhibitions. Pay a visit here and you might find yourself peering at videos through floorboards, spotting gnomes created from "capitalist rubble" or staring through a crack in the wall, waiting for the light to shine through. There are also live performances, including poetry readings, dance festivals and avant-garde music concerts. An interactive installation by Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija recently took contemporary art to the kitchen, offering guests two types of Thai green chili – one made with specialty ingredients, another with items from a New York supermarket.
The on-site shop, Artbook, is equally impressive, with a lot of the same coffee-table tomes you'll find at MoMA, along with more eccentric selections and out-of-print titles.
Seasonal Sounds
Lace up your dancing shoes on select evenings from July through August for Warm Up – an electronic music concert that takes over the outdoor courtyard, each year in a new custom-built architectural creation. Don't miss Sunday Sessions in autumn and winter, either. The series of lectures, film screenings and performances are ace. Check the website for dates and ticket prices.
