do it (in school)

Opening Reception: Friday, April 12, 2019 4-8PM

Works created by New York City High School students studying at Art and Design High School in Manhattan; Fordham High School for the Art in Bronx; Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School in Queens; Manhattan/Hunter Science High School; PS7 8th Graders in East Harlem, among others.

In 1993, the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist together with artists Christian Boltanski and Bertrand Lavier, conceived do it, an exhibition based entirely on artists’ instructions that could be followed to create temporary artworks to be displayed as an exhibition. do it challenges traditional exhibition formats, questions authorship, and champions art’s ability to exist beyond a single gallery space. Beginning 26 years ago with 12 sets of instructions, do it has grown to include instructions from 400 artists, and shown in more than 150 art centers in over 15 countries.

Building on this history, the latest version of the exhibition is called do it (in school) and is a selection of instructions that form a study-based curriculum for high school students.

Curated by Obrist and produced by Independent Curators International (ICI) in partnership with Studio in a School NYC (SIAS), and Hunter East Harlem Gallery, do it (in school) represents a new take on art education and is geared towards critical thinking and creative experience through hands-on workshops. The curriculum is a solid base for learning about conceptual art and some of the most influential art practices of this century. Students learn about contemporary artists from around the world, generating artworks that respond to their personal experience as they interpret the work themselves.

Over the past six months Studio in a School NYC artist-instructors adopted do it (in school) into their curriculum at three New York City high schools: Art and Design High School, Manhattan; Fordham High School for the Arts, Bronx; Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School, Queens.

The exhibition at Hunter East Harlem Gallery highlights a selection of works realized by students in the SIAS program alongside documentation of the processes of students interpreting the artists’ written score. Additionally, high school students throughout New York City have been invited to create several site-specific artworks during workshops held at the Hunter East Harlem Gallery. The collaboration with Hunter College through Hunter East Harlem Gallery adds a unique connection between high schools and a city university, as high schoolers become active in the college art gallery program. Many of the instructions in do it (in school) invite the viewer’s participation and activation, transforming the gallery into a site of engagement and community art-making.

Featuring instructions by: Etel Adnan, Uri Aran, Yto Barrada, Robert Barry, Jérôme Bel, Bernadette Corporation, Christian Boltanski, Louise Bourgeois, Cao Fei, Claire Fontaine, Jimmie Durham, Simryn Gill, Dominque Gonzalez-Foerster, William Forsythe, Joseph Grigely, Shilpa Gupta, Anna Halprin, NS Harsha, Madeline Hollander, Jonathan Horowitz, Pierre Huyghe, Joan Jonas, Allan Kaprow, Alison Knowles, Aaron Koblin, Koo Jeong-A, Bertrand Lavier, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Sol LeWitt, Lucy R. Lippard, David Lynch, Jonas Mekas, Annette Messager, Eileen Myles, Jean-Luc Nancy, Bruce Nauman, Ernesto Neto, Rivane Neuenschwander, Albert Oehlen, Precious Okoyomon, Yoko Ono, Füsun Onur, Clifford Owens, Thao Nguyen Phan, Cesare Pietroiusti, Adrian Piper, Raqs Media Collective, Lillian F. Schwartz, Hassan Sharif, Jim Shaw, Shimabuku, Rikrit Tiravanija, Carrie Mae Weems, Erwin Wurm, and more.