THE NEW MUSEUM TAKES A BOW

Devoted to new voices in the visual arts community, The New Museum located on Bowery street between Prince and Spring re-opened its doors to the public. An airy, spacious building adds acreage and natural light to the home of innovative artists representing insiders and outsiders. Some of the earliest artists to be exhibited at the New Museum and springboarded into the mainstream: William Kentridge, William Wegman, David Wojnarowicz, Ana Mendieta, Paul McCarthy, Félix González-Torres, Carolee Schneemann and Joan Brown.

These artists flourished in what now includes a 60 square foot expansion designed by OMA/Shohei Shigematsou and Rem Koolhaas. 

The current exhibition spans the whole building, including artifacts in stairways and outdoors. More than 15 new commissions appear by Ryan Gander, Camille Henrot, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Wangechi Mutu, Hito Steyerl, Alice Wong,  Santiago Yahuarcani and many others.

In a timely gesture, the exhibition New Humans: Memories of the Future explores artists’ inevitable preoccupation with “what it means to be human in the face of sweeping technological changes.” Historic works frame the new voices with iconic pieces by Man Ray, Salvador Dali, Constantin Brancusi and Andre Breton.

New Museum Director, Lisa Philips and Artistic Director Massimilliano Gioni described the museum as a site of discovery, a place that championed new voices and new thinking and operated like a cultural laboratory.

The aim is for the museum to be a space for people, a social and visual condenser. 

Considering today’s obsession with AI and robots, the exhibition looks at the conception of robots in the 1930’s and how technology continues in a constant state of transformation. 

In his closing remarks, Gioni spoke of the cries and warnings about technology re-engineering our bodies and souls–but he noted, “hope prevails for us to shape the future.”

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Celia Ipiotis