Watch the Bowery transform (again)
The NY Times has extensive coverage (incl. audio slide show and video) on the New Museum of Contemporary Art’s new space on The Bowery.
Amongst the short history lesson on the museum and a bit about naming toilets (The Jerome and Ellen Stern Restrooms), the article talks about the continued dedication (through its board member relations, mostly) to maintaining a dynamic institution to serve as an alternative to the behemoth institutions uptown.
Whether this will be borne out given the huge capital investment remains to be seen. Much of the trepidation lies around rapid re-gentrification of the Bowery, and what that may do to the brand and image of the museum:
Paul T. Schnell, a Manhattan lawyer and longtime board member, sees the challenge ahead. “We can’t become a victim of our own success,†he said. “We’re all very conscious that there’s a risk of losing our edge. It’s something the board and the staff worry about. So much so, that we’re all committed to making sure that that won’t happen.â€
One way they hope to accomplish that is with Lisa Phillips’ recruitment of…
…prominent talent to work with her, like Massimiliano Gioni, a curator at the most recent Berlin Biennial; Richard Flood, the former chief curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; and Laura Hoptman, a former curator at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.
Massimiliano Gioni (.pdf link) was one of the minds behind the inventive Wrong Gallery, which was eventually moved to the Tate Modern. This led to his curatorial team’s stint in charge of the 4th Berlin Biennial in 2006.
Read more on the New New Museum; more on The Wrong Gallery.
[Via The NY Times]
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