Organized by P.S.1 Contemporary Art
Center founder, Alanna Heiss, FORTYfeatures work by over 40
artists who were key participants in the 1970s alternative art spaces movement
and the early years of P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. In 1976, Alanna Heiss
founded P.S.1 as the latest venture in a series of pioneering projects
organized through her non-profit organization, the Institute for Art and Urban
Resources, which included the Clocktower Gallery in lower Manhattan and other
disused spaces across New York City. With both the intellectual and physical
room to experiment, nearly 80 artists created work for P.S.1’s inaugural 1976
show, Rooms, which has since become a landmark in the art history of 1970s New
York. The artists used classrooms, stairwells, windows, closets, bathrooms, the
boiler room, courtyard, and attic—often engaging directly with the existing
architecture. Rooms catalyzed changes in the forms and methods of making art,
and expanded ideas about how it could be shown.
Four decades later, FORTY revisits
the work of many of the artists who participated in the inaugural exhibition,
in some cases featuring works shown in Rooms. Presented across the museum’s
second floor galleries, FORTY revisits the radical vision
and experimental spirit that characterized P.S.1's early years.
FORTY features work by Cecile Abish, Laurie Anderson, Carl Andre,
Richard Artschwager, John Baldessari, Jennifer Bartlett, Lynda Benglis, James
Bishop, Daniel Buren, Colette, Ron Gorchov, Dan Graham, Robert Grosvenor,
Marcia Hafif, David Hammons, Jene Highstein, Nancy Holt, Bill Jensen, Richard
“Dickie” Landry, Barry Le Va, Sol LeWitt, Gordon Matta-Clark, John McCracken,
Mary Miss, Max Neuhaus, Richard Nonas, Brian O’Doherty, Dennis Oppenheim, Nam
June Paik, Howardena Pindell, Robert Ryman, Alan Saret, Joel Shapiro, Judith
Shea, Charles Simonds, Keith Sonnier, Pat Steir, Michelle Stuart, Lawrence
Weiner, Doug Wheeler, Jackie Winsor, and Robert Yasuda.
Opening June 19th to August 28th 2016