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Alanna Heiss
Alanna Heiss, Director of Clocktower Productions, is a leader of the groundbreaking early 1970’s alternative spaces movement in New York City, which radically changed the way large-scale art projects were produced, shown, and seen.
In 1972 she founded the legendary Clocktower Gallery, and in 1976 she founded P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (now MoMA PS1) which she directed for 32 years and transformed into an internationally renowned non-collecting center for the production and presentation of contemporary art. Heiss has organized over 700 exhibitions at P.S.1 and in art spaces around the world.
In 2003 founded Art Radio WPS1.org, the Internet radio station of P.S.1 and first ever all-art museum station. Among her numerous publications are catalogues of the work of Janet Cardiff, Alex Katz, Dennis Oppenheim, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Katharina Sieverding, and John Wesley.
Heiss was Commissioner of the 1985 Paris Biennial, and Commissioner of the 1986 American Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. She served as Chief Curator of the Tribute for John Cage, organized for the 1993 Venice Biennial, and as the Curatorial Director of the 2002 Shanghai Biennale, and she was a panelist for the 2005 Yokohama Triennial.
She is the recipient of the Mayor’s Award for Contributions to the Artistic Viability of New York City, France’s Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in the Légion d’Honneur, the Royal Swedish Order of the Polar Star, the Skowhegan Award for outstanding work in the arts, and the CCS Bard Award for Curatorial Excellence.
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1943, Ms. Heiss resides in New York City with her husband, Fredrick Sherman.
Image Courtesy of Casey Kelbaugh for The New York Times, 2012.
Programs
Times Square Arts
This channel features a selection of programs produced in collaboration with our partner organization Times Square Arts, a division of New York's Times Square Alliance.
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Anxious Spaces: Performance Festival 2015
Live performances by Aurora Halal, Lucas Abela, and Prince Rama, who use video, sculpture, and sound artwork in site-specific installations at Knockdown Center as a point of departure for their exploratory performances.
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Focus On Puerto Rico
Clocktower has partnered with Mana Miami to produce a residency program for Puerto Rican diaspora artists, and/or artists presently living and working in Puerto Rico.
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Papo Colo: Assorted Times in Singular Spaces at Liga de Arte, San Juan
Clocktower presents Papo Colo: Assorted Times in Singular Spaces, an intimate selection of works on paper and poetry by Puerto Rican artist Papo Colo, presented at the Liga de Arte, in San Juan, PR. A large exhibition of these works was originally organized by Curator Beatrice Johnson for the Clocktower Gallery, in New York, NY.
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Antony
Antony's artworks open up landscapes that are at once otherworldly and confessional. Often fragmentary in appearance, these images map his dreams and liminal states; polymorphic realms give way to indicated spirits; pen marks and scratches conjure archetypes and invite the fear and grace of the unconscious to emerge. The primary elements go through many stages - drawn on, burned, soaked in the rain, thrown away and reclaimed, drawn on again, stained or dried over a fire. These are then arranged and photographed. The intimacy of this unique gallery space then heightens the focus and clarity of these spells. Recalling the notebooks of William S. Burroughs and Antonin Artaud, Antony’s works employ a transgender intervention to readjust the colonial topography of the American Dream. Taken as a whole, these collages and drawings describe the arc of a dream atlas in which each diverse aspect is unified through the desire for healing. (excerpted from Isis Gallery statement)
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Anxious Spaces: Installation as Catalyst II
Clocktower presents the second annual group exhibition Anxious Spaces: Installation as Catalyst, featuring a selection of artists whose work incorporates dynamic and time-based elements, ranging from robotic interactivity to performance events to social intervention. Knockdown Center's cathedral-like complex, with its breathtaking expanse, mysterious sub-chambers, surprise annexes, and hidden pockets is a dream environment for site-specific and installation art. Taken together, the architecture and the artworks transform the space into a surreal bazaar of curiosities for the adventurous. Anxious Spaces exhibits and installations by Will Ryman, Molly Lowe, Tim Bruniges, Aurora Halal, Lucas Abela, Prince Rama, Audra Wolowiec, and Ben Mortimer are on view at Knockdown Center through July 26, 2015 Saturdays and Sundays, from 2 to 6pm. Or by appointment. More on the installations:
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Shoplifter's Nervescape
Nervescape is a colorful, organic, and beastly installation by Icelandic artist Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir aka Shoplifter with sound by Kría Brekkan in the Clocktower's upper gallery. Arnardottir makes sculptures, drawings and installations with various materials, including large amounts of multi-colored synthetic hair, which explore themes of vanity, self-image, beauty and beastly mythology, as well as notions of obsession and fetish. For her installation at the Clocktower, Arnardottir uses an existing metal structure in the upstairs gallery as a skeleton for a colorful, organic, and at times beastly installation that engulfs the space, and creates a fantastical landscape which viewers can enter and interact with. Mythology from Arnardottir’s upbringing in Iceland serves as an abstract inspiration for her work, along with the idyllic landscape of American painting, and notions of fairytale drama. The installation will be the site for opening performances, and invite viewers to dwell in the artist’s imaginary world of paradoxical impressions such as beauty and horror, nature and the supernatural. Icelandic vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Kría Brekkan provides an elusive, environmental soundscape which will evolve over the course of the exhibition.
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Dale Henry: The Artist Who Left New York at Pioneer Works
The Clocktower Gallery and Pioneer Works, Center for Art and Innovation present Dale Henry: The Artist Who Left New York, an exhibition of painting, sculptural works and writing by Dale Henry opening Saturday, January 18th, 2014 and running into March. EXTENDED to March 30, 2014. First presented in fall 2013 at the historic Clocktower Gallery, the exhibition marks the Clocktower's exit from its historic Lower Manhattan building, where the institution was founded in 1972. This second incarnation celebrates the Clocktower's arrival at Pioneer Works as an institutional resident. Presented in the Red Hook space’s vast brick and timber galleries, the show includes works installed at the Clocktower as well as new pieces not seen since the 1970’s, and in several cases, never shown.
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Canyon Candy
Canyon Candy is a site-specific installation and immersive soundscape bringing to life a Western-themed music video collaboration between filmmaker Mike Anderson and the band Javelin. Canyon Candy features the debut screening of a 16-minute film of the same title by Mike Anderson, the result of a year-long collaboration between the artist and the band Javelin. Spaghetti westerns, cowboy fashion, and the sights and sounds of the Wild West inspired the band to create a themed song suite released on 7-inch vinyl. Anderson's installation at the Clocktower transports the viewer into the set of the film through a sprawling installation in the Main Gallery. Beginning with an entrance through a wind-washed cabin, followed by a winding walk in the canyon’s termite hills and cactus fields, visitors will encounter coyotes, campsites, big sky, and vignette sequences from the film. All paths lead to a saloon-style theater space featuring the full Canyon Candy film – the ideal cowboy den after a long walk through the canyon, complete with strawbale seating, gingham tablecloths, and sasparilla. Javelin has created a multi-channel surround-sound environment embedded in Anderson’s installation, both recreating the film's ambiance and animating the canyon’s vistas through sound effects including crickets, howling winds, and yodeling.
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James Franco: The Dangerous Book Four Boys
In June of 2010, the Clocktower Gallery presented The Dangerous Book Four Boys , a gallery-wide multi-disciplinary show by James Franco bringing together a large selection of experimental films, photographs and drawings, and exploring themes of childhood and nostalgia, games and destruction, and the American landscape. The opening was attended by 450 guests, the exhibition was visited by hundreds, and was reviewed in the New York Times, Art in America, the Wall Street Journal, the Daily News, and Esquire, among many others.
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Nicholas Chatfield-Taylor, Do The Devo
As part of the Clocktower’s music video production program, Nicholas Chatfield-Taylor paired up with Brooklyn-based band Unstoppable Death Machines to produce an animated music video for their single, “Do The Devo.” Taking a live performance, filmed in the main gallery of the Tribeca space in 2012, as its’ starting point, Chatfield-Taylor transformed his project space into an animation studio, complete with a custom-built light table for large drawing sessions, and inspirational ephemera from both his and the bands’ lives. Throughout the duration of the residency, groups of friends and illustrators were invited into the workspace to converse and collaborate on the process of hand-drawing every one of the thousands of individual frames, culminating in a massively chaotic and beautiful distillation of his entire community’s creative efforts.
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Focus On Puerto Rico at Miami Art Week
Clocktower is pleased to announce our event showcase at Miami Art Week 2017-- an extension of our Focus On Puerto Rico, Fall program.
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Yokohama Trienniale 2005, host
Yoga For Two, curator
Warper Party and DJ Shakey's Audio Control Adventure, curator
Video Program, Come Home, curator
Venice Music Special: Caged/Uncaged, host
Venice in Venice, Jacqueline Miro & Tim Nye, host
Venice 2005: WPS1 Venice interviews, host
Times Square Arts: Gamelatron Bunga Kota, curator
Thu Tran & Christopher Duffy, Thanksgiving Deux, Dinnervisuals, curator
Thomas Dozol, curator
The Now Age, curator
The Island Studio Sessions: Haroon Mirza, curator
The Gamelatron Jalan Jiwo: Opening Reception, curator
The Gamelatron Jalan Jiwo, curator
The Babies, curator
Thanksgiving Deux, Dinnervisuals, curator
Tara Jane O'Neil Performs, curator
Sumi Ink Club, curator
Streamcast, Concert & Open Studios: Weekend , curator
Shrine, A Performance by Marja Samsom, curator
Shoplifter's Nervescape Opening, Kria Brekkan Performance , curator
Serra Victoria Bothwell Fels, Crystal Cavern, curator
September Open House, Open Studios, curator
Samba na Casa do Gato, curator
Sabisha Friedberg: Interstice, curator
Sabisha Friedberg, Interstice, curator
Ry Rocklen: Trophy Modern, National Work Table, curator
Ry Rocklen: Office Party, curator
Ry Rocklen, host
Regional de NY (Brazilian Choro and Samba), host
Reception: Ranjit Bhatnagar, Singing Room, curator
Ranjit Bhatnagar, Singing Room for a Shy Person, curator
Prisoner Fantasies: Photos from the Inside, curator
Performance & Open Studios: MV Carbon, Ganjatronics, curator
People Get Ready , curator
Paradise II: Dream Driver , curator
Papo Colo: Assorted Times in Singular Spaces at Liga de Arte, San Juan , curator
Papo Colo: Assorted Times in Singular Spaces at Liga de Arte, San Juan , curator
Oyama Enrico Isamu Letter: Aeromural, curator
Open House, Open Studios 24 January, curator
Open House, Open Studios 13 August , curator
Open House Open Studios, 27 March 2012, curator
Open House Open Studios 7 August 2012, curator
Open House Open Studios 13 December 2011, curator
November Open House, Open Studios , curator
New Musical Instruments, host
MV Carbon, Beyond the Dimensional Slope, curator
Muck Performance, curator
Muck, curator
Mikkel Hess & the Hess Is More Ministry of Integration, curator
Michael Nyman, Beyond Music for Film, host
Miami 2008: Ry Rocklen, host
Maya Hayuk , curator
Maximillian Lawrence , curator
Marja Samsom: Shrine, curator
Marja Samsom: Shrine, curator
Malcolm McLaren: The Look of Music and the Sound of Fashion, host
Malcolm McLaren Special Edition, host
Lary 7, A Tip of the Hat, curator
Kría Brekkan, curator
Kazue Kobata on Performance, host
Judith Supine Reception with Ed Schrader's Music Beat , curator
John Mejias, I'm Wurried, curator
Jene Highstein: Early Works, curator
Jay Buim , curator
James Mercer, Landfill, curator
James Franco, host
James Franco, host
How's It Going? Live Preview Greater New York Show Installation Update: Alanna Heiss/Brett Littman, host
Holiday Giveaway Party, curator
Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Stranger Visions, curator
Haroon Mirza Live Streamcast, curator
Hannah Sawtell: The Island Studio Sessions, curator
Guardian Alien in Times Square, host
Gilbert & George, London Pictures, host
Gamelatron Bunga Kota Opening Reception, curator
Frieze: Downtown Night, curator
Flock House Living System Pods, curator
Fischerspooner 2009, host
Elliott Sharp, Beneath the Valley of Gwangi, host
Ebe Oke , curator
Dumpling Academy , curator
Dumpling Academy , curator
Drew Conrad, curator
DJ Shakey's Audio Control Adventure, curator
DJ Shakey's Audio Control Adventure, curator
Dennis Oppenheim, host
Dale Henry: The Artist Who Left New York, curator
Dale Henry Opening Reception at Pioneer Works , curator
Dale Henry Opening Reception, curator
Dale Henry at Jones Day, curator
Crystal Stokowski Reception and Concert, curator
Crystal Stokowski, curator
Crystal Cavern Opening Reception, curator
Crystal Cavern - Closing, curator
Cross-Cuts Opening Reception , curator
Cross-Cuts, curator
Concert & Open Studios: Hess Is More (& More), curator
Collectors: Angels or Devils? , host
Collapse Into Now Film Project exhibition opening, curator
Collapse Into Now Film Project , curator
Closing Celebration for Shoplifter's Nervescape with Hess is More and Listening Center, curator
Clocktower Launch at Pioneer Works, Interviews 1, host
Cibelle Performs, curator
Caroline Cox, Spin, curator
Canyon of Burning Water, curator
Canyon Candy Installation Crew, curator
Canyon Candy exhibition opening, curator
Borden Capalino, Ballyjamesduff, curator
Beneath The Valley Of Gwangi, curator
Babyharvester, Opening Reception, curator
Babyharvester, curator
Babycalzones Pizza Potluck #23, curator
Armory Show 2006: Heiss, Deitch, Gladstone & Von Habsburg, host
Armory Show 2005: Alanna Heiss with David Teiger and Amalia Dayan, host
Armory Show 2005: Alanna Heiss with Carlo Bach, host
Anxious Spaces: Performance Festival, curator
Anxious Spaces: Installation as Catalyst , curator
Anxious Spaces 2015: On View , curator
Anxious Spaces 2015 Closing Party , curator
Andrew Mount, A Lecture In & Around Dale Henry, curator
Alex Katz, Hard Days Ahead Opening, curator
Alex Katz, Hard Days Ahead, curator
Alanna Heiss on Malcolm McLaren, host
Alaina Stamatis: Strife Lessons, curator
After Hours: Cabin Fever, An Alpine Fantasy, curator
After Hours, The Drums , curator
After Hours, Sky Lines , curator
After Hours, Room Mate Grace Hotel, curator
After Hours, Nomi Ruiz at BB Kings!, curator
After Hours, Ebe Oke , curator
After Hours, Bouquet , curator
After Hours, An Evening at the Lambs Club , curator
Aeromural Open Studio & Talk, curator
Aatish Taseer, host
A Slice of Pie with Alanna Heiss, host
A Light Sound Words Collaboration, curator
A farewell dance to the Clocktower Gallery by Min Tanaka, curator
