OPEN LECTURE: ALANNA HEISS

ALANNA HEISS: The Anti-Museum

Monday 23rd October at 12noon, curator Alanna Heiss will talk about her expansive activity as a curator, cultural instigator and producer of art projects and exhibitions for over 45 years. The talk will take place in the auditorium of the Visual Art Department of the Iceland Academy of the Arts at Laugarnesvegur 91.

Alanna Heiss (b. 1943), is a leader of the groundbreaking early 1970’s alternative spaces movement in New York City, which radically changed the way large-scale art projects were produced, shown, and seen. In 1972 she founded the legendary Clocktower Productions, and in 1976 she founded P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (now MoMA PS1) which she directed for 32 years, and transformed into an internationally renowned non-collecting center for the production and presentation of contemporary art.

Heiss has organized over 700 exhibitions at P.S.1 and in art spaces around the world. In 2003 founded Art Radio WPS1.org, the Internet radio station of P.S.1 and first ever all-art museum station. Among her numerous publications are catalogues of the work of Janet Cardiff, Alex Katz, Dennis Oppenheim, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Katharina Sieverding, and John Wesley.

Heiss was Commissioner of the 1985 Paris Biennial, and Commissioner of the 1986 American Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. She served as Chief Curator of the Tribute for John Cage, organized for the 1993 Venice Biennial, and as the Curatorial Director of the 2002 Shanghai Biennale, and she was a panelist for the 2005 Yokohama Triennial. She is the recipient of the Mayor’s Award for Contributions to the Artistic Viability of New York City, France’s Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in the Légion d’Honneur, the Royal Swedish Order of the Polar Star, the Skowhegan Award for outstanding work in the arts, and the CCS Bard Award for Curatorial Excellence.

Alanna Heiss visits Iceland for the first time, by invitation from the Icelandic Art Center and the National Gallery of Iceland.

The talk will be held in English and is open to the public.

Note: On Sunday 22nd October at 2pm, Alanna Heiss and Hrafnhildur Arnardottir/Shoplifter will have a discussion on Arnardottir´s current exhibition Nervescape VII, which is on display at the National Gallery of Iceland.

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