Skip to content
Recess homepage

September 7–October 26, 2018

Obscure Functions: Experiments in Decolonizing Melanin

Jes Fan

Obscure Functions: Experiments in Decolonizing Melanin will investigate the material agency of melanin, the natural pigment that determines skin color

June 7–August 14, 2018

Harris & Daughter Home Goods

Ilana Harris-Babou

Harris and Daughter Home Goods will transform Recess into a hardware store, cooking show set, showroom, and interrogation of the American Dream.

May 3–June 2, 2018

EL RECREO

Manuel Molina Martagon

EL RECREO will turn Recess into a home base for restaurant workers, with diverse programming addressing current issues faced by the food service.

March 6–April 21, 2018

Shug Avery’s Kiss

Tiona Nekkia McClodden

Shug Avery’s Kiss, a project that will turn the physical space of Recess into a juke joint.

January 9–March 3, 2018

Invisible Man Tattoo

Doreen Garner

Invisible Man Tattoo is a pop up tattoo shop offering designs that reflect the histories and experiences of Black people and the African Diaspora.

November 3–December 23, 2017

A Ponemos Chancla

Troy Michie

A Ponemos Chancla is an installation that simulates a men’s formalwear shop to explore camouflage, the semiotics of fashion.

September 8–October 28, 2017

The Service Room

Maayan Strauss

The Service Room is a project that will create a unique environment and framework for the communal exchange of services.

July 13–September 1, 2017

Steady Pulse

Brendan Fernandes

Steady Pulse is a club that plays host to a diverse range of happenings and interventions, including performances, movement workshops, conversations.

May 27–July 9, 2017

Wonder Room

Allison Janae Hamilton

Wonder Room is a hybrid of a treehouse, resource lounge, imaginative think tank, and community environment.

April 15–May 21, 2017

Recess: May 21, 2014

Am Schmidt

Recess: May 21, 2014, a month-long summoning of musician Dave Navarro.

March 10–April 8, 2017

Faked/Out

Andrew Lampert

Faked/Out is a multi-platform response to the world’s current information crises.

January 3–March 4, 2017

You Never Know What Idea You Might Have

Motoko Fukuyama

A two-month project that will forge links between Recess and Argo Electronics, located on Canal Street one block away from our storefront.

November 3–December 23, 2016

BROUHAHA

Željka Blakšić

BROUHAHA is a shape-shifting habitat, with a sculptural skate ramp positioned in the space as its physical anchor.

September 1–October 29, 2016

Refuge in the Means

Canaries

Canaries will address the two primary components of their practice—collective care and self-care—through programs and documentary activities

May 14–July 9, 2016

Kingdom Splurge (4)

Lauren Halsey

An interplanetary liquid environment composed of hyperreal gardens, fantasy landscapes, and pools of beauty water.

March 12–May 7, 2016

Flow Pool

Marie Lorenz

A two-month long project that proposes the titular structure as a site for investigating questions ranging from the practical to the poetic.

January 7–March 5, 2016

Living Magasine

Total Effekt

The artists conducted a speculative archaeological study of “the home,” examining the practical and symbolic value of the dwelling.

November 10–December 19, 2015

My Twilight Zone Thing

Sondra Perry

Perry takes the television series The Twilight Zone (1959–1964) as the starting point for an investigation of multi-dimensional identity construction.

September 4–November 3, 2015

Double Mouth Feedback

Jonah Groeneboer

Double Mouth Feedback explores the human voice as an instrument to express, or conversely, to repress, the self.

July 2–August 29, 2015

Small Town Sex Shop

Katherine Hubbard and Savannah Knoop

Hubbard and Knoop will explore connotations of production through a synthesis of clothing-making, sculpture and installation.

April 30–June 27, 2015

Seek

The Institute for New Feeling

IfNf will create an installation that offers individuals a clairvoyant reading generated by the misuse of online search engines.

March 19–April 25, 2015

False Alphabets

Sara Magenheimer

Magenheimer will construct sculptural sets composed of photographs, objects, and film equipment that will become the backdrop for a new video.

January 22–March 14, 2015

Movie in a Bar Mirror

PK

PK Worryshop will explore the cinematic trope of the “sad bar” along with the historical use of private cinema viewing machines.

January 6–17, 2015

1/2 a Cord

Jessica Segall

Jessica Segall’s installation at Recess involves a very simple task rendered complicated in New York City.

November 4–December 20, 2014

You are Apple/Pear

Chris Domenick

Domenick will explore the historical genre of the still life and its accompanying fruit basket.