The Shed Announces its 2020 Season
By: Stephi Wild Dec. 20, 2019
Alex Poots, Artistic Director and CEO of The Shed, today announced its 2020 Season of new productions by progressive artists from across the performing arts, visual arts, and pop culture, including live performances, solo exhibitions, and the final group of The Shed's inaugural Open Call series for emerging New York City-based artists. Poots also announced the appointment of Madani Younis, who joins The Shed in January as Chief Executive Producer. To celebrate the opening season as it draws to a close, The Shed will host its first open house, Meet at The Shed, on Saturday, January 11, 2020, featuring special pop-up events and free admission to its current exhibitions.
"At the start of this new decade, in such a significant year for this country, we are producing and premiering a number of pioneering artists' works that confront the urgent matters of our time-artists whose practices speak to justice, empathy, and the environment, and look to the future," said Alex Poots. "Built on city-owned land, our nonprofit institution has been given a once-in-a-generation opportunity to contribute to New York's vibrant cultural scene, with a mission to commission new work across all genres and create a culturally democratic space for communities and audiences from across the city and beyond."
The Shed's multidisciplinary commissioning program is developed by Artistic Director and CEO Alex Poots with the senior program team, including Chief Civic Program Officer Tamara McCaw, Senior Program Advisor Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Senior Curator Emma Enderby.
Help
March 10 - April 5, 2020; The Griffin Theater
The Shed presents the world premiere of Help, a new theatrical work by acclaimed author and poet Claudia Rankine (Citizen: An American Lyric), starring Roslyn Ruff (Theater: Fairview; Film: Marriage Story; TV: Divorce, Pose) and directed by Obie Award-winner Taibi Magar (Is God Is, Soho Rep), with movement choreography by Shamel Pitts. The newly commissioned script derives from Rankine's deep inquiry and ongoing investigation into white male privilege, elements of which were shared in her New York Times Magazine essay, "I Wanted to Know What White Men Thought About Their Privilege. So I Asked" (July 17, 2019). Set design by Mimi Lien, costume design by Dede Ayite, lighting design by John Torres, sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman, and original music composition by Jerome Ellis; Casey Llewellyn, dramaturg.
"Artists are moving society toward a more equitable and sustainable future, drawing on studies in history, science, and technology to solve humanitarian issues," said Hans Ulrich Obrist, Senior Program Advisor. "New commissions at The Shed this year call urgently to our past, present, and future to engage communities in a productive dialogue."
Emma Enderby, Senior Curator, added, "In our gallery program, for example, Tomás Saraceno weaves together our current and future climate crisis with hope for change and adaptability Ian Cheng plays with reality in an era of Artificial Intelligence, and Howardena Pindell takes us to a history that not only should never be forgotten but still persists and permeates our culture."
Tomás Saraceno: Particular Matter(s)
May 6 - August 9, 2020; The McCourt, Level 2 and Level 4 Galleries
For more than a decade, Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno has been imagining a world free from borders and fossil fuels, in an unorthodox collaboration with spiders and their webs, and the cosmic web. In this age of climate emergency, his work has focused on a new era of our Earth that emphasizes the atmosphere, called the Aerocene. Saraceno draws on this practice in Particular Matter(s), the artist's largest exhibition in the US to date. The exhibition features new and extant works and a large-scale, interactive commission in The McCourt, The Shed's iconic and largest space. Particular Matter(s) marks the first time The McCourt will be used for a visual art installation-one that is intended to be neither seen nor heard, but felt.
Open Call: Group 4
May 21 - August 22, 2020; The Griffin Theater
Open Call, The Shed's commissioning program for NYC-based emerging artists across all disciplines, launched earlier this year with presentations in The Griffin Theater, Level 2 Gallery, and outdoors on the Plaza. The inaugural program continues with the final nine of 52 artists and collectives selected in the first year, with each work presented three times. These commissions explore identity, the influence of religion, state-based violence, borders, and rituals, among other social issues and themes. Featured works include: composer, director, and actor Troy Anthony's choral work Antioch Mass; performer and performance-maker Fana Fraser's Hotline; performance and video artist Madeline Hollander's Preview, based on ready-made choreographies; multidisciplinary performance artist Ayesha Jordan's bayou-inspired project Shasta Geaux Pop: Walk on Water in collaboration with Creative Capital and 2019 United States Artist fellow Charlotte Brathwaite; Bessie Award-winning dancer and choreographer Kyle Marshall's Reign; composer and multimedia artist Rachika S's audiovisual installation Drawn Around Us; Bessie Award-winning dancer and choreographer Alice Sheppard and her collective of disability arts leaders, Kinetic Light, with their new dance piece Wired; Bessie Award-winning dance artist Mariana Valencia's solo piece Ileana; and theater-maker, vocalist, composer, and cultural worker Nia O. Witherspoon's Chronicle X: Windows, the first in her series of Dark Girl Chronicles.
"As a 21st-century organization, our mission is rooted in civic responsibility and equity. The artistic richness and depth of talent in our Open Call program is remarkable," said Tamara McCaw, Chief Civic Program Officer. "From its inception, we decentered our curatorial voice and shared space with external advisors to select the vanguard of arts and culture in the city, emerging artists who are pushing artistic boundaries and disciplines."
Admission to all Open Call programs is free. The Shed will begin accepting artist proposals for its 2021Open Call program in spring 2020.
Ian Cheng: Life After BOB
September 16, 2020 - January 17, 2021; Level 2 Gallery
Ian Cheng's Life After BOB is the first episode in an animated miniseries that explores how Artificial Intelligence might transform the scripts that guide our lives. Expanding on the character of BOB (Bag of Beliefs), an AI-driven virtual lifeform the artist first exhibited in 2018, Cheng introduces the story of Chalice, a young girl born with a BOB in her brain. When Chalice gets lost in a neural dream game, she accidentally automates away 10 years of her life. She returns to face a version of herself in which her life script has been wildly enacted by BOB. Merging traditional storytelling with live simulation, Life After BOB allows viewers to both experience the narrative and influence the details of the world, its characters, and their cognitive landscapes, all within a continuous dream-like medium. Life After BOB proposes a future beyond streaming television, where viewers personalize the world they watch.
Misty
September 24 - October 24, 2020; The Griffin Theater
Arinzé Kene (Playwright: Little Baby Jesus, Oval House/The Orange Tree Theatre (2019 revival); Actor: Death of a Salesman, Young Vic) stars in Misty, "a tour de force by a force of nature" (The Upcoming), written by Kene and directed by Omar Elerian. Fusing live music, spoken word, and absurdist comedy, Misty is an exhilarating journey through the dark alleyways of a city in flux and a genre-defying excavation of the pressures and expectations that come with being an artist in our time. Part poem, part concert, part confession, Misty was hailed as "one of the great theater success stories of 2018" (The Guardian, UK) when it was first developed by and premiered at London's Bush Theatre before transferring to the West End and garnering nominations for Olivier Awards for Best New Play and Best Actor. For the US premiere, The Shed has commissioned the creative team to evolve the narrative into a new production for New York audiences.
Howardena Pindell: Rope/Fire/Water
October 7, 2020 - January 17, 2021; Level 4 Gallery
For her solo exhibition at The Shed, Howardena Pindell is creating her first video in 25 years, a Shed-commissioned work titled Rope/Fire/Water comprised of archival images of lynching photographs and archival photos of the historic 1963 Children's Crusade in Birmingham, Alabama. In voice-over, Pindell recounts personal anecdotes alongside anthropological and historical data related to lynchings and racist attacks in the United States. Additionally, the artist will debut a pair of large-scale paintings related to global atrocities of imperialism and white supremacy, and several abstract paintings that demonstrate a through line in Pindell's practice: after working on traumatic historical projects, the artist decompresses by creating meticulously produced, highly textured, large-scale abstract works on unstretched canvas.
As part of The Shed's long-term commitment to supporting pioneering artists and providing a space for developing their work, internationally acclaimed choreographer William Forsythe and virtuosic conductor Teodor Currentzis, with musicAeterna, will return in fall 2020 for a second consecutive season.
Forsythe will return to The Shed in October 2020 with the world renowned Boston Ballet to premiere a new work co-commissioned by The Shed and Boston Ballet. Additionally, The Shed will present the New York premieres of Blake Works I (2016), created for the Paris Opera Ballet, and Playlist (EP), which was created for Boston Ballet earlier this year as part of the choreographer's long-term partnership with the Company.
About William Forsythe: A Quiet Evening of Dance, which was performed at The Shed in October 2019: "It is the kind of dance we rarely see anymore, one that leaves audiences elevated, energized, overcome by the sheer pleasure of movement and music." (The New Yorker).
After their critically acclaimed North American debut at The Shed this past fall with Verdi's Requiem ("Electrifying...possibly the musical event of the year," Parterre), Teodor Currentzis and musicAeterna will return in November 2020 to perform a program that will be announced next year.
Tickets for Help go on sale Jan 9. On-sale dates for all other 2020 commissions and programs will be announced. Tickets may be purchased at theshed.org or by calling (646) 455-3494.
Admission to exhibitions at The Shed is $10, which includes entry to all exhibitions on view that day (admission is free for children and teens 18 years and under, and for Shed Members at the Builder level and above). Ticket prices for live productions vary by show.
Meet At The Shed: First-Ever Open House
Saturday, January 11, 2020
To celebrate the new year, friends and neighbors are invited to Meet at The Shed, the new arts center's first-ever open house where visitors can explore the building and learn more about The Shed's programs. Admission to current exhibitions Agnes Denes: Absolutes and Intermediates and Manual Override will be free of charge, including curator and guest artist-led tours. Additional events include pop-up performances by past and future Shed artists, including DJ sets, dance battles, and a closing concert. A complete schedule will be announced in the coming weeks. Free tickets can be reserved in advance at theshed.org.
Poots also announced the appointment of Madani Younis in the new position of Chief Executive Producer. In this role, Younis will lead The Shed's producing and production teams in the development and realization of The Shed's commissions. Younis will also be responsible for developing co-commissions, commercial partnerships, and serve as executive producer on a number of new productions. He will work alongside The Shed's senior program team, including Artistic Director and CEO Alex Poots, Chief Civic Program Officer Tamara McCaw, Senior Program Advisor Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Senior Curator Emma Enderby.
Madani Younis is an accomplished producer, director, writer, and in-demand public speaker on topics such as diversity, social justice, democratizing culture, theatrical producing, and fundraising. Originally trained in film, his debut short film, Ellabellapumpanella, was commissioned by the UK Film Council and screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. In 2008, Younis founded Freedom Studios, a theater company based in West Yorkshire, UK, led by and celebrating the work of second-generation British-born South Asian communities. He later became the first artistic director of color to lead a London theater at the Bush Theatre, where he was artistic director and CEO from 2012 to 2018. Arinzé Kene's Misty, commissioned and produced during his tenure there, became the theater's first commercial transfer to the West End in 15 years. During this time, he was invited by the Mayor of London to assume the role of Cultural Ambassador for the city. In 2019, Younis served as creative director of Europe's largest arts center, the Southbank Centre. He has won numerous accolades for the work he has produced and commissioned, including London Theatre of the Year 2019 at The Stage Awards, Olivier nominations, an Evening Standard Award, the Critics' Circle Award, and others.
Current Exhibitions On View
Manual Override
Through January 12, 2020; The Griffin Theater
In Manual Override, five artists-Morehshin Allahyari, Simon Fujiwara, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Sondra Perry, Martine Syms-critique the social, cultural, and ethical issues embedded in emerging technological systems and infrastructures ranging from mass surveillance to predictive policing. "To override, to intervene, and to interrupt, the five artists in Manual Override engage with programming both literally and as a metaphor. They use the potent strategies inherent in code-which can be rewritten, edited, reworked-and play with the inherent flexibility of their chosen technology to offer reformulations," said Nora N. Khan, guest curator.
Agnes Denes: Absolutes and Intermediates
Through March 22, 2020; Level 2 and Level 4 Galleries
Agnes Denes rose to international attention in the 1960s and 1970s as a leading figure in conceptual, environmental, and ecological art. A pioneer of several art movements, she creates work in a broad range of mediums, utilizing various disciplines-science, philosophy, linguistics, ecology, psychology-to analyze, document, and ultimately aid humanity. Absolutes and Intermediates has been praised by the New York Times as a "superbly installed" and "tautly beautiful" exhibition.
Exhibition hours are Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 11 am to 6 pm; Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 11 am to 8 pm. Times for live productions vary by show. The Shed will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
The creation of new work at The Shed is generously supported by the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Commissioning Fund and the Shed Commissioners.
The Bloomberg Building is configured with a state-of-the-art fiber network and infrastructure to connect people to new cultural experiences, and a superior Wi-Fi service for audiences, artists, and staff. Providing The Shed with infrastructure and technical capability at an unprecedented scale is Altice USA, The Shed's exclusive connectivity provider.
M&T Bank is The Founding Bank of The Shed and is the exclusive financial services supporter for live performance commissions as part of a multiyear partnership. M&T has supported The Shed since the beginning of the project with crucial bridge financing that helped fund its design, planning, construction, and pre-opening operations.
TD Bank is the lead sponsor of Open Call.
Membership at The Shed is supported by United Airlines.
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