Tierra Whack at MoMA
photo via @paraicmclean

MoMA is officially open again; Tierra Whack played opening party (watch)

After being closed for nearly five months of renovations and expansion, MoMA finally reopened to the public a day early on Sunday (10/20) with the free “A Day for New York.” The official reopening is today (10/21); have you been by yet? The Washington Post took an early look at the space:

The collection is still roughly arranged by date, with the oldest work (from the late 19th century) on view on the fifth floor, mid-century work on the fourth and the newest material on the second. More gallery space means more options for dealing with light-sensitive material and film and video, which have now been thoroughly integrated into galleries. The museum has also added free galleries on the ground level, a small concession to those put off by the $25 full admission, and a welcome break from the erstwhile hermetic relationship to the street and city beyond.

Visitors will enjoy all of this, as well as a new cafe with outdoor seating on the sixth floor, a new metal awning over the 53rd Street entrance, a more open and sensible ticket and entry atrium, reopened windows into the central lobby at the core of the old building, and a double-height “studio” space in the new wing, for performance and installation works.

The museum has also committed to regularly rotating its permanent collection, to get more of it on view and incorporate diverse artists into what was for decades a rigidly canonical approach to display. Every six months, one-third of the collection will be switched out, with the galleries fully refreshed every 18 months.

Another addition to the new MoMA is lobby music composed by Arca. An installation, “Echo (Danny the Street)” that she made in collaboration with French artist Philippe Parreno, will occupy MoMA’s entrance for the next two years; according to Arca, during that time, it will “never make the music play the same way twice” thanks to AI. More from Arca:

For 2 years my music will be playing in the lobby of the newly reopened @themuseumofmodernart . It’s such an honor to be able to compose for an AI that will never make the music play the same way twice – it’s a live transmission forever in mutation— check out the brilliant https://bronze.ai for more info

Thanks to the Parreno studio for trusting me and giving us carte blanche throughout the composition process, it’s amazing to think of how many people that don’t know about my work will have my sounds passing through their body as they pass through the space into the MoMA. Thanks to everyone involved especially @damienqd ! It’s an honor 💖
The piece is titled Echo (Danny the Street) by Philippe Parreno who was commissioned to produce the work and he asked me to create this entity together with him. I was happy to suggest the word Echo based on the myth of Narcissus and Echo— look into how it unfolds, it’s one of my favorite myths! Thanks Philippe!

Meanwhile, MoMA celebrated its reopening with a preview party on Friday (10/18) night, with Tierra Whack performing. Watch a couple of video clips from attendees below.