Rirkrit Tiravanija

October 12, 2023 - March 2024

MoMA PS1

MoMA PS1 presents the first US survey and largest exhibition to date dedicated to Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija (b. 1961, Buenos Aires). On view from October 12, 2023 through March 2024, Rirkrit Tiravanija: A LOT OF PEOPLE traces four decades of Tiravanija’s career and features over 100 works, from early experimentations with installation and film, to drawings, works on paper, ephemera, sculpture, and newly produced “demonstrations” of key participatory works.

The exhibition will gather rarely seen early works from the late 1980s and 1990s, a period in which the artist was developing a post-studio practice and introducing biographical references to highlight his experiences as an immigrant with a palpable sense of “otherness” in a Western-centric art world. These works include many original sculptures, installations, and editions, some of which have been subsequently reimagined, cast, and memorialized over the years in new materials from plaster to bronze. Formative to his early practice, Tiravanija’s concern with the politics of the personal expanded into works that tackle global politics as well as the quotidian news cycle. To make many of these works, Tiravanija has set up a studio near his home in Chiang Mai, Thailand, creating an economy of art production that is explicitly localized and collaborative.

Rirkrit Tiravanija: A LOT OF PEOPLE is organized by Ruba Katrib, Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, MoMA PS1, and Yasmil Raymond, Rector, Städelschule and Director of Portikus, Frankfurt, with Jody Graf and Kari Rittenbach, Assistant Curators, MoMA PS1.

Major support for Rirkrit Tirvanija: A LOT OF PEOPLE is provided by the Family of Lise Stolt-Nielsen.

Press Kit

Press Release

Images

Important: By downloading images you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity of The Museum of Modern Art's and MoMA PS1's current and upcoming exhibitions, programs, and news announcements. Permission to use images is granted only to the extent of the Museum's and MoMA PS1's ownership rights relating to those images—the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. The images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.

Installation view, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tomorrow is the Question, Remai Modern, Saskatoon, 2019. Courtesy Remai Modern, Saskatoon. Photo: Blaine Campbell.

Rirkrit Tiravanija and Nico Dockx. untitled 2011 (erased Rirkrit Tiravanija demonstration drawing). 2011. Stereo equipment, blue carpet, wooden Thai pillow blocks, drawings and vinyl. Dimensions variable. Installation view, 1301PE, Los Angeles, 201. Courtesy the artist and 1301PE, Los Angeles, 2011.

Rirkrit Tiravanija. untitled 2017 (fear eats the soul) (white flag). 2017. Courtesy Creative Time. Photo: Guillaume Ziccarelli.

Rirkrit Tiravanija. untitled 1990 (pad thai). 1990. Opening event at Paula Allen Gallery, New York, 1990. Courtesy the Rirkrit Tiravanija Archive.

Rirkrit Tiravanija. untitled 1991 (tom ka soup). 1991. Camping stove, cooking pot, ladles, spoons, cutting board, multi-tool pocketknife, eating utensils, paper bag, and food. Dimensions variable. Installation view, Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, 1991. Courtesy the Rirkrit Tiravanija Archive.

Rirkrit Tiravanjia. untitled 1993 (sleep/winter). 1993. Straw mat, foam mattress, cotton, pillow, duvet. Dimensions variable. Installation view, 303 Gallery, New York, 1993. Courtesy the Rirkrit Tiravanija Archive.

Rirkrit Tiravanija. Lung Neaw Visits His Neighbors. 2011. Digital video (color, sound). 2 hrs., 34 min. (film 1) and 93 min. (film 2). Courtesy the artist. © Rirkrit Tiravanija

Rirkrit Tiravanija. untitled 1990 (pad thai). 1990. Mixed media. Overall dimensions variable. Installation view, Project Room, Paula Allen Gallery, New York, 1990. Courtesy the Rirkrit Tiravanija Archive.