Sky High Farm to Launch First-Ever Art Biennial
50 artists come together on the 560-acre, riverside farm in Upstate New York.
Summary
- Sky High Farm, an artist-founded nonprofit working to combat food injustice, has announced its inaugural art biennial.
- The exhibition will be on view from June 28 through October 2025 in Germantown, New York.
- Among the 50 featured artists are Anne Imhof, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tschabalala Self, Félix González-Torres and more.
Sky High Farm is launching its first art biennial, TREES NEVER END AND HOUSES NEVER END. In the last several years, the non-profit has made major waves, teaming up with fashion heavyweights like Dover Street Market and Balenciaga to join the fight against food insecurity. Now, the organization ringing in a new era with this significant milestone, as it expands to a new 560-acre, riverside site.
Curated by founder and Gagosian-backed artist Dan Colen, the site-specific exhibition will be staged at a historic apple cold storage warehouse along the Hudson River in Germantown, New York, bringing together 50 notable names from across the globe, including Anne Imhof, Félix González-Torres, Tschabalala Self, Ben Wigfall and Rirkrit Tiravanija. Champions in their respective approaches and practices, each artist builds on the central question: what do we carry with us and what do we leave behind?
The show explores the ecology, industry and memory in the Hudson Valley and its ties to New York City, looking to its layered histories and the immediate environment as muse: Imhof’s industrial water containers nod to the tension between nature and human intervention, while Brian Jungen’s sculpture— cast from melted metal found in the remnants of his studio after it was destroyed by wildfires — grounds the exhibition in real-world urgency.
Additional highlights include, Rudolf Stingel’s massive mirrored floor piece which reflects the continuity and movement of nearby river tides, and González-Torres’ 24-piece Untitled (It’s Just a Matter of Time billboard installation along the tidal portion, whose political messaging is now just as potent as was during its conception 20 years ago.
The biennial will also introduce a new artist-driven fundraising model, trading traditional auctions in favor of flexible, artist-defined contributions. Proceeds support Sky High Farm’s mission to grow and distribute nutrient-dense food, provide educational programming on sustainable agriculture and climate justice, as well as fund food justice initiatives around the US and beyond.
“Sky High is able to affect so many people because it has operated across various modes — from art practice to public health to ecological research,” Colen expressed in a statement. “The farm was born out of a desire to move away from the business side of making art and rediscover how art can connect us. It required a belief in creating new structures and models for change, and that commitment is exemplified in this exhibition.”
With this ambitious new chapter, Sky High Farm continues proving what’s possible when art, farming and activism collide. The inaugural TREES NEVER END HOUSES NEVER END biennial will be on view in Germantown from June 28 through October 2025. For more information and updates, head to the organization’s website.
