A comprehensive history of MoMA PS1, this publication emphasizes artist-centered radical experimentation that characterizes the institution. MoMA PS1: A History contains historical statements and in-depth interviews with founder Alanna Heiss and contemporary witnesses closely associated with the institution. Complemented by previously unpublished archival documentation of exhibitions, performances, and events, with an additional included chronology and exhibition history.
The Museum of Modern Art Library is an excellent resource to supplement the information in the MoMA PS1 Archive. In addition to materials published by MoMA PS1, the library also holds catalogues for exhibitions that appeared at PS1 but which were authored and published by others. Additionally, the library contains extensive materials providing a broader context for students and scholars. As PS1 was a pioneer of the development of alternative non-profit art spaces, its history is entwined with other similar organizations, some of which are still thriving today. The library holds numerous overviews of that community and published histories of individual organizations, a partial list is below. Library artist and subject files include extensive folders of ephemera on PS1 as an institution, for Allan Heiss and other curators, and for many of the thousands of artists who have exhibited at PS1.
As a response to artists' increasing discontent with New York City's mainstream art establishments, a network of alternative art spaces rose in popularity, repositioning the center of contemporary art production and exhibition to reflect the city's diverse cultural scene. These oppositional organizations often occupied abandoned buildings, providing a space for emerging artists to experiment with often overlooked forms of conceptual art, performance, and installation.
Organizations such as 112 Greene Street, Franklin Furnace, The Kitchen, The New Museum of Contemporary Art and PS1 (now MoMA PS1) were central to the alternative scene, nurturing the practice of artists who would later become prominent names in contemporary art. Many of these spaces operated as non-profits, supported by funding public from newly formed organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts.
Like PS1, A History, the titles below held in the MoMA Library's collection offer insight into the complex relationship between commercial galleries and institutions with counter-culture, exploring the origins and evolution of their establishment. Self-published histories of some of these prominent institutions listed below can be found in the MoMA Library.
10 downtown, 10 years : 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
by
The Kitchen Turns 20
by
Alternative art New York, 1965-1985 : a cultural politics book for the Social Text Collective
by
Franklin Furnace and the spirit of the avant-garde : a history of the future
by
112 Greene Street : the early years (1970-1974)
by
Alternative histories : New York art spaces, 1960 to 2010
by
Unfinished memories : 30 years of Exit Art
by
40 Years New
by
Ken Friedman, events : [exhibition] P.S.1, Institute for Art and Urban Resources, December 1980-January 1981.
by
Fri-Art, made in Switzerland : New York, April 26-June 8, 1985.
by
What are you working on now? : a pictorial memoir of the 60's
by
