Performance Space 122 (PS122) has appointed Jenny Schlenzka, a respected curator of performance at MoMA PS1, as its next Executive Artistic Director, Board President Enrico Ciotti announced today.
Schlenzka, 38, will become PS122's first female artistic leader. She will bring over a decade of curatorial experience, primarily in live performance and media art, to PS122 as the iconic arts organization prepares to return to its beloved East Village home.
On February 1, Schlenzka will join PS122 as its third artistic leader and will build on the work of both
Vallejo Gantner (2005-2016) and
Mark Russell (1985-2005). Her programming will begin in early 2018.
"At Performance Space 122, we celebrate courage - to challenge preconceived notions, to break barriers, both in substance and form, to take visible actions towards a freer, more expressive, diverse and equitable society," said Ciotti, President of Performance Space 122's Board of Directors. "Jenny is a bold risk-taker whose programmatic choices combine a thorough curatorial approach with such great instincts on what it is that makes the heart of our extended community pulse. She will be a great leader at a very exciting time of growth for Performance Space 122."
With a background in cultural studies, Schlenzka is interested in how different art forms can push individuals to engage with the world in creative and illuminating ways. As the Associate Curator at MoMA PS1 and, prior to that, as the Assistant Curator for Performance in the Department of Media and Performance Art at The Museum of Modern Art, Schlenzka has been at the forefront of presenting, collecting, and exhibiting performance-based art.
"I feel very honored to join Performance Space 122 at this crucial crossroads," said Schlenzka, incoming Executive Artistic Director of PS122. "Historically, the organization has been a place of radical experimentation and interdisciplinarity, shaping artistic communities in the East Village and beyond. It will be exciting to work with artists and staff on extending these core values into the future."
"Performance Space 122 has an extraordinary history as a platform for boundary-pushing performance," said Suzanne Geiss, Vice President of Performance Space 122's Board of Directors. "Jenny's energy, excitement and commitment to supporting artists who take risks make her the perfect person to lead PS122 forward with a new vision while maintaining our core values as an organization."
"Artistic hybridity has always been a hallmark of PS122's performing arts community," said PS122 Board Member
Kaneza Schaal. "Jenny's incisive vision for the organization will support PS122 artists and expand critical dialogue and public engagement with their work. Her proven skill and tenacity to create dynamic cultural community will lead PS122's homecoming into the new building with full force."
PS122 began in 1980 and has been heralded by The New York Times as "a center for adventurous performance events" and "a bastion of avant-garde theater and dance."
About Jenny Schlenzka
For the past five years, Jenny Schlenzka has been Associate Curator at MoMA PS1 in New York where she established the interdisciplinary live program Sunday Sessions. The program has featured artists such as Mette Ingvartsen, Ann Liv Young, and
Justin VivIan Bond as well as new commissions by Trajal Harrell, Ragnar Kjartansson, Mårten Spångberg, Anne Imhof,
Matthew Lutz Kinoy and Tobias Madison, among many others. In addition to her event program that incorporated performance, music, dance, discourse, and moving images, Schlenzka also developed an interest in performance within the exhibition format, organizing at MoMA PS1 the New York presentation of Retrospective by Xavier Le Roy (2014) and Anne Imhof: DEAL (2015), both exhibitions with strong performance components. Prior to her work at MoMA PS1, Schlenzka was the Assistant Curator for Performance in the Department of Media and Performance Art at The Museum of Modern Art from 2008 to 2012, where she focused on presenting, collecting, and exhibiting performance-based art, including co-organizing the Performance Exhibition Series with artists like Tehching Hsieh, Simone Forti, Roman Ondák, Jerome Bel, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker,
Ralph Lemon, and Allora & Calzadilla, among others. She has also worked as a curatorial liaison for KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin. Schlenzka received her MA in cultural studies from Humboldt University, Berlin, in 2007.
About Performance Space 122
Performance Space 122 (PS122) provides incomparable experiences for audiences by presenting and commissioning artists whose work challenges boundaries of live performance. PS122 is dedicated to supporting the creative risks taken by artists from diverse genres, cultures and perspectives. We are an innovative local, national and international leader in contemporary performance.
Beginning in 2011, PS122 embarked on one of the most unusual and potentially radical shifts in its history, including a re-structuring of artist support, a business model overhaul, and the renovation of our building. As PS122's East Village home undergoes a much-needed interior renovation supported primarily by the City of New York, DCA and DDC, PS122's core activity continues to be providing audiences with contemporary live performance.
For over 3 decades, Performance Space 122 has been a hub for contemporary performance and an active member of the cultural community. Under the curatorial vision of
Vallejo Gantner (Artistic Director 2005 - present) PS122 has developed a set of programs designed to re-establish the value of live performance, provide singular experiences for audiences that inspire critical thinking, and sustain the creative process for artists throughout their career. Largely in partnership with peer organizations, PS122 currently presents artists in all disciplines in spaces all over the city during an annual fall & spring season and the Coil festival in January.
In addition to the commissioning and presenting of artists from NYC across the US, and around the globe, PS122 has increased our activity off the stage to provide audiences with a variety of access points and context for the work on stage. These activities include both talkbacks with the artists as well as in depth conversations that bring together luminaries from non-arts disciplines to discuss a variety of topics including everything from religion, to migration, to queer real estate and cultural diplomacy. PS122 encourages the asking of questions and debate of contemporary society's issues in both artistic practice and audience experience.
Website:
ps122.org; Video site:
ps122.tv
Twitter + Instagram: @PS122; Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/ps122/
Photo credit: Jen DeNike
