Showing posts with label Swiss Institute. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swiss Institute. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

A look at '340 E. 9th Street' on 2nd Avenue

You likely noticed the new mural going up on the north-facing portion of 128 Second Ave. just south of St. Mark's Place several weeks back.

At first glance, we figured it would be some sort of ad.

However, this turns out to be the first commission of this space by the Swiss Institute next door at 38 St. Mark's Place ...
The work is titled "340 E. 9th Street" by East Village-based artist Megan Marrin. 

Here's more via the Swiss Institute:
"340 E. 9th Street" is a painting of a photograph that accompanies an article published in the April 29, 1968 issue of New York magazine about the spread of public art across New York City. In the image, the building located at the titular address is shown in profile, adorned on its windowless side with a mural by pop-surrealist Allan D'Arcangelo (1930-1998). D'Arcangelo's untitled mural, completed in 1967, precipitated the formation of City Walls: a nonprofit, artist-led, city-spanning public arts initiative established in New York later that year. 

Facilitated by urban planner David Bromberg, City Walls murals came to fruition through direct conversations with building owners, who supplied participating artists with paint and access to walls. 
The resultant murals, made by artists including Richard Anuszkiewicz, Tania, Jason Crum and Knox Martin, in addition to D'Arcangelo and several others, share a vibrant color palette across playful, occasionally psychedelic, abstractions. As of January 2022, one mural produced by City Walls remains intact [on West Third Street W. between Mercer and Broadway]. 

Marrin is interested in the shifting intentions behind public murals in New York City, often questioning for whom these images and messages are created. D'Arcangelo's 1967 commission, a vertical roadway featuring plants, clouds and directional signage, is a quiet yet consequential entry into this history of public art. 
In 340 E. 9th Street, Marrin resurrects and recasts D'Arcangelo's work as a hybrid of what she considers the two predominant modes of contemporary mural making to now be: memorials and advertisements. 
The mural will be on display here until Sept. 1.

Top photo via the Swiss Institute. Allan D'Arcangelo’s 1967 mural appears courtesy of the Estate of Allan D'Arcangelo, licensed by VAGA and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Swiss Institute is back open on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place


[Image via]

The Swiss Institute, the nonprofit arts organization, reopened yesterday here on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

The return exhibit is titled Tenet, based on Christopher Nolan's budding blockbuster of the same name (which we can't see in NYC for the time being ... because theaters remain closed).

A preview via artnet News:

[T]he time inversion-themed film — specifically the delay of its release — has served to inspire a presentation of video works by Jibade-Khalil Huffman, Moyra Davey, Yu Honglei and Steffani Jemison.

Like "Tenet," each of these pieces features the manipulation of time, with the artists rewinding, speeding up, slowing down, or otherwise editing their footage to alter the normal sequence. Each work will be on view at the institution for one week during the show’s run.

The show runs through Nov. 1. Hours: Wednesday-Friday, 2-8 p.m.; Saturday, noon-8 p.m.; Sunday, noon-6 p.m. The admission is free. You can also visit Printed Matter in the lobby.

The nonprofit institution was created in 1986. They opened the EV outpost in June 2018 at the site of a former Chase branch.

Thursday, September 3, 2020

Printed Matter's lobby shop is open again on St. Mark's Place and 2nd Avenue



Printed Matter recently reopened in the lobby space at the Swiss Institute on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place.

For now, three customers are allowed at a time inside the shop specializing in art books, zines, prints and posters.

The hours are currently 2-8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, noon-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon-6 p.m. on Sunday...



Printer Matter, founded in 1976, opened the EV outpost in June 2018. The Swiss Institute will reopen to the public with a new exhibit on Sept. 9.

Friday, June 22, 2018

The Swiss Institute debuts its inaugural exhibit at new East Village home


[Photo from last evening]

The Swiss Institute's inaugural exhibition officially opens to the public tomorrow on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place (the address is 38 St. Mark's Place).

Here's more about it via the Institute's website:

On view will be "Readymades Belong to Everyone" ... the third edition of SI’s Architecture and Design Series. Curated by Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen, the exhibition features more than 50 artists, architects and collectives from 16 countries with 17 new commissions.

The opening hours are noon to 8 p.m.

The building — 7,500 square feet in total — was a former Chase branch. The four levels include space for exhibitions, a research library, a bookstore run by Printed Matter and a rooftop terrace with art.



Here's more background via a recent preview in The Wall Street Journal...

The nonprofit institution was created in 1986 by a group of Swiss expats looking to highlight their country’s artists and culture. That mission has since broadened to promote a diverse community of international artists, all the while charming the wider art world with its zeitgeist-tapping exhibitions.

Despite this success, Swiss Institute director Simon Castets yearned to find a permanent home base. After reviewing roughly 100 buildings and raising nearly $4 million, the French-born Castets and his board, chaired by philanthropist Maja Hoffmann, landed on a former Chase bank ...

“We used to be near CĂ©line and Moschino,” says Castets, 34, of the Institute’s former Wooster Street space. “[We’re now] on one of the city’s most heavily trafficked corners. It changes the profile entirely.”

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

'Good riddance' Chase, and — a development to watch in 2016

It will now be more challenging to tag the front of the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue

Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

A few more details on the Swiss Institute's move to the East Village

Printed Matter/St. Mark's opens today inside the Swiss Institute


[I spy Dallas BBQ]

The Swiss Institute, the arts nonprofit, officially opens tomorrow on St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue.

And today, the Printed Matter/St. Mark's offsite location debuts in the lobby space.

Here's more via the Printed Matter website:

Printed Matter/St. Mark’s will present a mixture of contemporary and out-of-print artists' books, Printed Matter titles, and publications related to current Swiss Institute exhibitions and programs. Stay tuned for updates on St. Mark's-specific events and educational programming ... We look forward to joining the vibrant community of independent arts institutions and bookstores with this new space in the East Village.

And the bookstore hours:

Monday-Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday-Friday: 2–8 p.m.
Saturday: Noon-8 p.m.
Sunday: Noon- 6 p.m.

And here's a look at some of the titles that will be available (via this link here)...



Images via Printed Matter/St. Mark's

Previously on EV Grieve:
Printed Matter will have a bookstore inside the Swiss Institute's new 2nd Avenue home

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Printed Matter will have a bookstore inside the Swiss Institute's new 2nd Avenue home


[Photo from April 29]

Printed Matter, the Chelsea-based nonprofit art bookstore founded in 1976, is opening an outpost at the Swiss Institute's new home on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

Per artnews:

The venue will be dubbed Printed Matter/St. Mark’s and will carry artist’s books, prints, posters, and the like, as well as offerings from the Swiss Institute’s publishing imprint. Max Schumann, Print Matter’s executive director, said in a statement that the new partnership “presents an amazing opportunity to bring the creative, experimental, and critical work being done in the field of artists’ publications to a broader audience, which is at the heart of Printed Matter’s mission.”

At its Chelsea location, Printed Matter has long offered a rich array of talks, workshops, and so forth, and the organization said in a news release that a “robust program of public events” will be on offer in the Swiss Institute building...

The East Village location of Printed Matter will also open with the Swiss Institute on June 21.

Read more about Printed Matter's history here.

Meanwhile, here's a photo from the Swiss Institute's rooftop from Sunday...


[Photo by Grant Shaffer]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Monday, April 30, 2018

Unwrapping the future Swiss Institute on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place



Back on Saturday, workers removed the sidewalk bridge and scaffolding from around the former Chase branch on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place...



... the future home of the Swiss Institute...



As previously reported, the nonprofit cultural center will open on June 21.

And via a news release:

The inaugural exhibition is titled "Readymades Belong to Everyone," marking the 3rd edition of SI’s Annual Architecture & Design Series. This exhibition is curated by Fredi Fischliand Niels Olsen, directors of exhibitions at the Institute for the History and Theory of Architectures at ETH, Zurich, and will track a history of exchange between artists and architects employing found objects associated with urban space.

The revamped building will create spaces for exhibitions, projects and public programs ... as well as a library, bookstore and rooftop garden.


[Rendering via the Swiss Institute]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

The Swiss Institute announces June 21 opening on St. Mark's Place and 2nd Avenue


[Photo of St. Mark's and 2nd Avenue from Monday]

The Swiss Institute has announced a June 21 opening date in its new home on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place.

Here's more about what to expect from the nonprofit cultural center when it opens via artforum, who first reported the news yesterday:

This summer, the institute will launch several education programs developed by artists in collaboration with local schools and community organizations, including School of the Future, Little Missionary’s Day Nursery & Sara Curry Preschool, GO Project, and Sirovich Center for Balanced Living. Commenting on the new initiatives, director Simon Castets said, “A space for artists, 38 St. Marks Place is also a space by artists, who are actively contributing through both the ‘SI ONSITE’ commissions and our new artist-led education programs. Moving into a new neighborhood and building goes hand in hand with expanding upon our mission, with education as a new cornerstone of our activities.”

The organization has had several locations since its founding in 1986, most recently on Franklin Street.

Renovations continue at the Institute's new EV home — the former Chase branch.


[Photo on St. Mark's Place from Feb. 16]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

[Updated] Swiss Institute revamp now in sidewalk bridge phase


[Photo Tuesday by Steven]

As previously reported, the Swiss Institute, a non-profit cultural center, is moving to the Icon Realty-owned 130 Second Ave. at St. Mark's Place.

Workers have been gutting the former Chase branch since August... on Tuesday, the sidewalk bridge went up ...




[Bottom 2 bridge pics from yesterday]

Hopefully this will help preserve the wheatpaste ads that seem to change every few hours on the plywood.

Inside, here's more about what to expect via the Institute's website:

In Spring 2018, Swiss Institute looks forward to relocating to a new long-term home in New York City’s East Village, moving into a building at the corner of St. Marks Place and Second Avenue. Swiss Institute has hired Selldorf Architects to oversee the transformation of the new building. The 7,500 square foot space features four levels – basement, ground floor, second floor and roof.

The design for the building will create spaces for exhibitions, projects and public programs, a library, a bookstore, and a rooftop garden. SI’s new home is located within half a mile of several prominent cultural and educational institutions including Anthology Film Archives, Cooper Union, Danspace Project, ICP, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New Museum, New York University, The Poetry Project, and The Public Theater.

Updated 10:30 a.m.

The scaffolding and construction netting is going up now...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Checking in on the Swiss Institute, coming next spring to 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place



Nearly a year has passed since the news arrived that the Swiss Institute, a non-profit cultural center, was moving to the Icon Realty-owned 130 Second Ave. at St. Mark's Place.

There hasn't been much activity at the former Chase branch (except for the daily switch in wheatpaste ads on the plywood) ... until this past week, when some interior gutting commenced... (coinciding with the work-permit approval earlier this month) ...


[Photo last week by Lola Sáenz]

The original announcement said they open in the spring of 2017. That opening date is now the spring of 2018.

Here's more about what to expect via the Institute's website:

In Spring 2018, Swiss Institute looks forward to relocating to a new long-term home in New York City’s East Village, moving into a building at the corner of St. Marks Place and Second Avenue. Swiss Institute has hired Selldorf Architects to oversee the transformation of the new building. The 7,500 square foot space features four levels – basement, ground floor, second floor and roof.

The design for the building will create spaces for exhibitions, projects and public programs, a library, a bookstore, and a rooftop garden. SI’s new home is located within half a mile of several prominent cultural and educational institutions including Anthology Film Archives, Cooper Union, Danspace Project, ICP, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New Museum, New York University, The Poetry Project, and The Public Theater.

THE MOVE TO ST. MARKS WILL ENABLE SI TO:
– Stengthen & expand its core mission of promoting forward thinking and experimental art- now in an architecturally significant and expanded space.
– Act as a cultural catalyst to partner and engage with a dense network of cultural and educational institutions in a demographically diverse community.
– Significantly grow attendance to exhibitions and public programs though increased prominence and visibility.



There's a benefit for the new space, officially going as 38 St. Mark's Place, in November. (Benefactor tickets are $1,200 each.) Details here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Monday, November 14, 2016

Future Swiss Institute gets the plywood treatment on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place



On Friday, workers started putting up the plywood around the former Chase branch on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place...



As previously reported, the Swiss Institute, a non-profit cultural center currently located on Wooster Street, has signed a lease for the whole building...



There aren't any permits on file with the DOB as of this morning about the renovation of this space. According to the previously distributed news advisory on the relocation:

Swiss Institute has hired Selldorf Architects to oversee the transformation of its new building. The 7,500 square foot space features four levels – basement, ground, second floor, and roof. The design for the building will create spaces for exhibitions, projects and public programs, a library, a bookstore, and a usable rooftop.

ARTnews floated a rumor that there will be a biergarten on the building's roof. A little early for more confirmation on that.

The Chase merged with the location two blocks to the north last November.

Steven took the above photos on Saturday... by yesterday, the ads had arrived...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Friday, September 23, 2016

A few more details on the Swiss Institute's move to the East Village



As reported last Friday, the Swiss Institute, a non-profit cultural center currently located on Wooster Street, has signed a lease for 130 Second Ave. — the former Chase branch.

Landlord Icon Realty issued a news release about their new tenant. Here's part of it:

Icon Realty Management LLC has leased space to Swiss Institute, a non-profit contemporary arts center that promotes artistic dialogue between Switzerland and the United States. Swiss Institute seeks to explore how a national perspective can foster international conversations in the fields of visual and performing arts, design and architecture.

The new location will open in the Spring of 2017. The 7,500 square foot space will feature exhibitions, projects and public programs, a library, bookstore and rooftop. Additionally, Icon will be collaborating with Swiss Institute artists on public art murals at 128 Second Ave, the building next door to the Institute.

“Considering the vibrancy, diversity and ample foot traffic in the neighborhood, our move to the East Village will offer a vast array of opportunities to engage with our audience in new, stimulating ways,” says Swiss Institute Director Simon Castets. “We’re incredibly lucky to be on a street with such a deep artistic history as St Marks Place, and it’s exciting to imagine how this new location can help us in expanding our mission.”

Back in June, Icon announced a project in which artists would be creating murals on Icon properties in the city. Jerkface started work at 128 Second Ave., but the mural has remained incomplete since June...



We asked Icon spokesperson Chris Coffey what the status was on this project.

"We needed a lift to complete the mural, and applied for a permit. We are just waiting for DOT to issue," he said via email. "We are excited about it. One of the great things about Swiss Institute is that we will be collaborating on future murals."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Friday, September 16, 2016

Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place


[Photo from December by Steven]

Looks as if the former Chase branch on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place won't be torn down after all.

Back in February, landlord Icon Realty filed demolition permits for the address, 130 Second Ave.

At the time, there apparently weren't any takers for the space, which had been on the market since last summer with an asking price of $72,000 a month, per the listing. The address was being marketed for use as retail, a restaurants/bar, office space or a gym.

Now comes word that the Swiss Institute, a non-profit cultural center currently located on Wooster Street, has signed a lease for the space. Here is part of the news release:

Swiss Institute (SI) announced that it will be relocating to a new long-term home in New York City’s East Village, moving into a building at the corner of St. Marks Place and Second Avenue. The organization has selected Selldorf Architects to design the renovation of the 7,500 square foot building, due to open in the Spring of 2017.

Swiss Institute has hired Selldorf Architects to oversee the transformation of its new building. The 7,500 square foot space features four levels – basement, ground, second floor, and roof. The design for the building will create spaces for exhibitions, projects and public programs, a library, a bookstore, and a usable rooftop.



SI’s new home is located within half a mile of several prominent cultural and educational institutions including Anthology Film Archives, Cooper Union, Danspace Project, ICP, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New Museum, New York University, The Poetry Project, and The Public Theater.

“This new building offers tremendous opportunities to expand upon our mission and serve a growing audience, to whom we will continue to offer forward-looking exhibitions and public programs, always free of charge”, said Swiss Institute Director Simon Castets. “We look forward to joining and contributing to the diverse community of cultural organizations and artists that have called the East Village home for many years.”

SI had lost their home in Soho to Jeffrey Deitch, per ARTnews.

As for the Chase branch, which merged with the one two blocks to the north, there were rumors galore about what Icon Realty was going to do to the space. Leasing to an arts organization was not among the predictions. In reporting on this move, ARTnews floated the following:

A rumor going around was that there would be a biergarten up top, which would befit a Swiss art concern, but at this time that tidbit is unconfirmed...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12

Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

'Good riddance' Chase, and — a development to watch in 2016