Swiss Institute New York
History
The Swiss Institute was founded in 1986 by a group of Swiss expats looking to highlight their country’s artists and culture. It originally had headquarters at the Swiss Townhouse at 35 West 67th Street. It moved to the third floor of the New Era Building at 495 Broadway in Soho in 1994.
From 2011 to 2016, the Swiss Institute was located in a 460 m (5,000 sq ft) space at 18 Wooster Street. During that time, it showed its inaugural design exhibition in 2014. In addition to hosting art exhibitions, the space became the venue for the fall/winter 2016 presentation of New York City-based accessories brand Mansur Gavriel, which enlisted a handful of collaborators to turn the space into a domestic scene.
From 2016, the Swiss Institute staged shows at Swiss In Situ, a temporary 460 m (5,000 sq ft) space at 102 Franklin Street in TriBeCa.
Since 2018, the Swiss Institute has been located in a 700 m (7,500 sq ft) space at 38 St. Marks Place and Second Avenue. Formerly a bank, the four-story building was re-designed by Selldorf Architects and includes exhibition space, an education and public programs floor, a library, and a usable rooftop. Exhibitions include visual and performing arts, design, and architecture, with public programs spanning a wide range of topics. SI also has weekly public programming and education classes. Admission is free.
Printed Matter, Inc. St. Mark’s bookstore is located on the ground floor.
Leadership
Directors
- 1987–1992: Ziba Ardalan
- 1992–1997: Carin Kuoni
- 1997–2000: Annette Schindler
- 2000–2006: Marc-Olivier Wahler
- 2006–2013: Gianni Jetzer
- 2013–2021: Simon Castets
- 2022–present: Stefanie Hessler
Chairs of the Board
- 2002–2016: Fabienne Abrecht
- 2016–present: Maja Hoffmann
Awards
At its annual fundraiser, the Swiss Institute has recognized several individuals with the SI Award, including the following:
- 1996: Bob Lutz
- 1997: Daniel Vasella
- 1998: Leonard Lauder
- 2000: Ulrich Bremi
- 2001: Adolf Ogi
- 2003: Michael Ringier
- 2005: Thomas W. Bechtler
- 2006: Uli Sigg
- 2007: Iwan Wirth
- 2008: Maja Hoffmann
- 2009: Bice Curiger
- 2010: Sam Keller
- 2011: Hans-Ulrich Obrist
- 2012: Eric Syz
- 2014: Ursula Hauser
- 2015: Dominique Lévy
- 2016: Eva Presenhuber
- 2017: Yves Béhar
- 2018: Herzog & de Meuron
Since 2003, the Swiss Institute has also been honoring artists with the SI Artist Tributes:
- 2003: Christian Marclay
- 2004: Ugo Rondinone
- 2005: Olaf Breuning
- 2006: Christoph Büchel
- 2007: Shirana Shahbazi
- 2008: Roman Signer
- 2009: Peter Fischli & David Weiss
- 2010: Pipilotti Rist
- 2011: John Armleder
- 2012: Thomas Hirschhorn
- 2013: Sylvie Fleury
- 2014: Valentin Carron
- 2015: Pamela Rosenkranz
- 2016: Olivier Mosset, Jordan Wolfson
- 2017: Mai-Thu Perret, Niele Toroni
- 2018: Latifa Echakhch, Walter Pfeiffer
- 2019: Christina Forrer, Rudolf Stingel
- 2021: Jill Mulleady, Nicolas Party
References
- ^ Giovannini, Joseph (June 28, 2018). "Swiss Institute Has a New Home Ready-Made for Art". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
- ^ Thomas Gebremedhin (May 29, 2018), A New Art Space in New York City’s East Village Archived December 17, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Swiss Institute Moves to Wooster Street Artforum, September 6, 2011.
- ^ Karen Rosenberg (October 13, 2011), Pamela Rosenkranz and Nikolas Gambaroff: ‘This Is Not My Color/The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ Archived June 17, 2022, at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
- ^ Martha Schwendener (April 21, 2016), SoHo and TriBeCa, a Cradle of Contemporary Art Archived April 29, 2021, at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
- ^ Su Wu (September 16, 2014), At the Swiss Institute, a Survey of Eccentric Chair Designs Archived December 17, 2022, at the Wayback Machine T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
- ^ Hilary Moss (February 16, 2016), How Mansur Gavriel Turned a White Box Into a Cozy Home Archived December 17, 2022, at the Wayback Machine T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
- ^ Andrew Russeth (July 26, 2016), Mobile for the Moment, Swiss Institute Will Stage Shows at Temporary Space in TriBeCa Archived November 28, 2022, at the Wayback Machine ARTnews.
- ^ Andrew Russeth (May 7, 2018), Printed Matter Plans East Village Location in Swiss Institute’s New Home Archived October 31, 2023, at the Wayback Machine ARTnews.
- ^ Rita Emch (January 8, 2007), Swiss Institute: Ein "Juwel" in einer Stadt der Museen Archived December 16, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Swissinfo.
- ^ Rita Emch (January 8, 2007), Swiss Institute: Ein "Juwel" in einer Stadt der Museen Archived December 16, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Swissinfo.
- ^ Rita Emch (January 8, 2007), Swiss Institute: Ein "Juwel" in einer Stadt der Museen Archived December 16, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Swissinfo.
- ^ Rita Emch (January 8, 2007), Swiss Institute: Ein "Juwel" in einer Stadt der Museen Archived December 16, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Swissinfo.
- ^ Salomé Gómez-Upegui (December 15, 2022), With a New Director at the Helm, New York’s Swiss Institute Seeks to Highlight Concerns Around Climate Change Archived June 8, 2023, at the Wayback Machine ARTnews.
- ^ Hannah Ghorashi (June 3, 2015), Swiss Institute Elects Maja Hoffmann as New Board Chair, Effective June 2016 Archived January 27, 2023, at the Wayback Machine ARTnews.
- ^ Swiss Institute in New York ehrt Sam Keller und Pipilotti Rist Archived December 16, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Swissinfo, November 13, 2010.
- ^ Rita Emch (November 7, 2011), New York: Swiss Institute in neuem Gewand Archived December 16, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Swissinfo.
- ^ Nate Freeman (November 11, 2016), The Election Over, Gala Season Continues, With Swiss Institute Celebrating 30 Years Archived March 22, 2023, at the Wayback Machine ARTnews.
- ^ Swiss Institute in New York ehrt Sam Keller und Pipilotti Rist Archived December 16, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Swissinfo, November 13, 2010.