MoMA PS1 has revealed the roster of artists for the sixth installment of its Greater New York exhibition, designed to spotlight emerging and mid-career contemporary artists every five years. Starting on April 16, the exhibition will be held in the museum’s revamped school building and will commemorate MoMA PS1’s 50th anniversary. It features a diverse array of site-specific installations, fresh commissions, and seldom-seen pieces by 53 artists and collectives from across New York City. The complete list of participants is provided at the end of this article.
This year marks the first time since 2010 that Greater New York will coincide with the Whitney Biennial. According to a press release from MoMA PS1, the exhibition will focus on themes of resilience and survival in light of the increasing integration of surveillance technology throughout the city, as well as the fragile state of an economy on the edge. The selection predominantly showcases sculpture and installation art, along with new media and contemporary painting.
Among the newest generation of contemporary artists shaping the city’s art scene, three native New Yorkers—Coumba Samba, Piero Penizzotto, and Taína Cruz—are among the youngest participants. Artist performances are slated to take place between May and June. In a statement to Hyperallergic, Cruz, who is also featured in the Whitney Biennial, expressed that her inclusion in Greater New York “feels deeply personal, because this is home.”
“My parents are New Yorkers, and my sister and I grew up on these streets, learning the city’s demands and what it means to belong here,” Cruz explained, adding that her work “explores rest, attention, and subtle forms of play.” She emphasized that it captures “the fragile beauty of learning how to feel alive.” Penizzotto, known for his life-size papier-mache figures, shared in an email that his work “reflects on intimacy, distance, and the indispensable importance of familial presence.”
Red Canary Song, an activist collective advocating for NYC’s predominantly Asian migrant massage workers and sex workers, will also be featured in MoMA PS1’s exhibition. Their installations, which replicate the settings of massage parlors, include artwork by and about its members, extending their organizing efforts into the artistic realm.
