Founded in 1971 by Alanna Heiss, P.S.1 was created as an organization devoted to organizing exhibitions in abandoned spaces across New York City. Now located in Long Island City, P.S.1 became affiliated with the Museum of Modern Art in 2000 and now uses its spaces for exhibitions rather than as a collecting institution.
Currently, P.S.1 is housing Argentinean artist Leandro Erlich’s Swimming Pool, a site specific installation created to trick the viewer’s perspective. Erlich constructed a full size pool that, when approached from the first floor, visitors see people, fully clothed, standing, walking and breathing underneath the surface of the water. However, once entering the basement of the duplex, visitors recognize the pool is empty and only a visual trick.
2822 Records (PS1), 1987-2009 by Christian Marclay is also on display through April 5 and consists of 12 inch records from every musical genre and style laid out over the space’s floor. Marclay invites visitors to walk on the artwork, highlighting the experiential qualities of music and vinyl.
P.S.1 presents over fifty exhibitions each year including site specific installations, artists’ retrospectives, historical surveys, art from across the country and world, plus a full schedule of performance and music programming.
Gallery Spotlight, by Shelby Blitz, is a series of weekly short features on art exhibitions, and the galleries that host them, from all corners of the world.