Sometimes art is delicious.
MoMA PS1 unveils Rirkrit Tiravanija’s biggest exhibition ever, A LOT OF PEOPLE, with an Open House on Saturday, Oct. 14, from noon to 8 pm.
Activities include ping-pong, pad thai (from 12:30 pm until the food runs out), tea, and Turkish coffee, while more than 100 pieces that Tiravanija has created over four decades will show in the second-floor galleries, lobby, and Courtyard. Expect to see everything from the polyglot artist’s early experimentations with installations to ephemera, film, paper, participatory pieces, photographs, and sculptures.
Enjoy and then return soon as a central aspect of A LOT OF PEOPLE is a newly conceived presentation of five interactive pieces, presented on a stage as a series of plays on Fridays and Saturdays. They’ll unfold chronologically over the course of the exhibition.
Born in Buenos Aires in 1961, Tiravanija was raised in Canada, Ethiopia, and Thailand. The diplomat’s son studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Banff Center School of Fine Arts, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Whitney Independent Studies Program in New York. He currently lives in Chiang Mai (Thailand), Berlin, and New York, where he teaches at Columbia University.
Since the 1990s, he’s focused on social engagement art, creating installations where viewers are encouraged to hang out, share meals, play music, socialize, and read. In one of his best-known series — which began with pad thai at Manhattan’s Paula Allen Gallery in the early 1990s – Tiravanija rejected traditional art in favor of cooking and serving food.
Located at 22-25 Jackson Ave., MoMA PS1 is accessible via the 7, E, G, and M lines to the Court Sq.-23rd St. and 21st St.-Van Alst subway stations. (Yes, it’s affiliated with Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art.)
When there’s no open house, admission to MoMA PS1 is $10, but seniors and students can attend for $5, and New York residents don’t have to pay anything at all. The museum is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Operating hours are noon to 6 pm on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and Friday and noon to 8 pm on Saturday.
Images: MoMA PS1