Aug 11, 2017

“All the ‘straight’ people were trying to get out of New York but all the freaks… we were trying to get in.” -Maripol in Blank City (2010) The Kitchen regularly invites summer interns to write blog posts related to their ongoing projects. While working in the archives, I was impressed by the variety of musicians who have performed at The Kichen throughout its 46 years. Upon further research, I became interested in the role The Kitchen played in shaping the downtown New York music scene in the 1970s and 1980s. Rhys Chatham, David Linton, Nina Canal, and Ned Sublette performing Guitar Trio at The Kitchen in 1981. Photo: Paula Court The Kitchen was founded by Steina and Woody Vasulka in 1971 as a presentation space for video artists. Later that year, the Vasulkas added music to t... Read On

Jun 13, 2017

This summer The Kitchen is participating in I ♥ John Giorno, an unprecedented collaboration between leading non-profit and alternative spaces across New York, which are joining forces for the first time to mount a multilayered retrospective on the poet, artist, activist, and muse John Giorno. I ♥ John Giorno is a work of art by Giorno’s husband, the Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone.Expanding upon the exhibition that took place at Palais de Tokyo in Paris from October 2015 to January 2016, I ♥ John Giorno has been re-conceptualized specifically for New York, highlighting Giorno’s significant relationship with the city, and his singular role in creating and fostering community here. The exhibition has been divided by Rondinone into chapters reflecting the layers of Giorno’s life and work, his l... Read On

Apr 12, 2017

The Kitchen Curatorial Fellowship: August 2017 - May 2018 This nine-month fellowship at one of New York’s foremost non-profit interdisciplinary arts spaces provides the opportunity to work closely with The Kitchen’s curatorial staff as well as with a wide range of performing and visual artists. Founded in the early 1970s, The Kitchen identifies, supports, and presents emerging and under-recognized artists working in the areas of video, dance, music, performance art, media arts, and literature. This fellowship includes a $2,500 stipend and requires a time commitment of 24 hours per week, beginning in late August and ending in May. This is an excellent opportunity for a highly motivated individual who is either currently enrolled in or who recently completed a graduate program. At l... Read On

Apr 12, 2017

We are honored to celebrate John Cale and Lawrence Weiner at our Spring Benefit Gala this year. Both artists have had long relationships with The Kitchen throughout their careers, and as the gala nears we look back on their history here through a collection of images and ephemera from our archive.  JOHN CALE In the fall of 1982 John Cale appeared on a split bill with Bob Neuwith at The Kitchen entitled Convergence . They each presented solo works, and Cale’s rendition of “Heartbreak Hotel” was a noted favorite on the program of artists who exemplified what Christian Science Monitor reviewer David Sterritt described as the “try anything brashness that goes over well at the unpredictable Kitchen.” Neuwith and Cale performed a work together at the beginning of the conc... Read On

Feb 17, 2017

During the past month, The Kitchen has been proud to present Cory Arcangel and Olia Lialina’s “Asymmetrical Response,” an exhibition that takes up not only the ambiguous character of contemporary media—questioning, in effect, the levers of power and flow of information within the Internet’s historical apparatus—but also, and as important, the fundamental value of simple dialogue among people today. As much as Cory and Olia’s exhibition offers an incisive account of social structures and behaviors as they are shaped by digital technology, it is also a record of a decades-long conversation between two people with common interests. By committing to such continuing dialogues, whether in art or life, the most remarkable observations can be made—and the most lasting collective goals accompli... Read On