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Stephanie Hessler’s Vision for Swiss Institute’s New Permanent Bowery Home

The move to 250 Bowery marks a major new chapter for the experimental New York kunsthalle, expanding its footprint and giving it a permanent home for the first time in its 40-year history.

Over four decades, Swiss Institute has built a reputation as one of New York’s most experimental, research-driven institutions, having introduced many international artists to U.S. audiences. Earlier this week, the institution announced its relocation from its beloved longtime home on St. Marks Place in the East Village, following the acquisition of the ground floor and lower level of 250 Bowery. The move marks the first time in its 40-year history that the institution has owned its own space, which will allow for more long-term and context-specific thinking. With a renovation led by Johnston Marklee—the internationally acclaimed architecture firm already behind the Menil Drawing Institute, the MCA Chicago renovation and Marian Goodman Gallery in Los Angeles—SI’s new venue will expand its footprint from approximately 7,000 square feet to 11,000 square feet. “The increased square footage will allow us to better serve artists, and the renovation with Johnston Marklee will turn the space into a flexible, sustainable platform for artistic experimentation,” director Stephanie Hessler told Observer.

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In moving to the Bowery, Swiss Institute joins an expanding local ecosystem of cultural institutions anchored by the recently reopened New Museum, as well as Giorno Poetry Systems, Participant Inc. and other galleries and organizations. “As we’re moving closer to the downtown scene, we will also continue our collaborations with partner organizations and local communities,” Hessler said. The move will also position SI within the rich artistic history that unfolded on the Bowery, where artists including Eva Hesse, Mark Rothko and Wade Guyton lived and worked. “David Hammons’s Bliz-aard Ball Sale (1983) was staged on the Bowery; Nan Goldin, Martha Rosler, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and so many others have made work in the vicinity.”

SI’s first exhibition after reopening will revisit a locally rooted artistic project from the 1960s through newly commissioned works by........

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