Artist and curator Adam Heft Berninger is opening a new contemporary art gallery called Heft in New York City's Lower East Side on April 23, 2025. The gallery evolves from Berninger's curatorial project Tender into a permanent space, debuting with the group exhibition "Truth or" featuring generative art pioneers including Mario Klingemann, Katie Morris, Michael Mandiberg, and a collaboration between Edward Burtynsky and Alkan Avcıoğlu. The show runs through May 10, 2025, and includes works by Kevin Abosch, Gretchen Andrew, and others.
The opening matters because Heft positions itself as a dedicated venue for generative and systems-based art, a rapidly growing field at the intersection of traditional and emerging art forms. By establishing a physical gallery with regular programming, community initiatives, and extended evening hours, Berninger aims to broaden audience engagement with this avant-garde movement. His background collaborating with MoMA, Public Art Fund, and Google Art Project lends institutional credibility to the venture, signaling that generative art is gaining a permanent foothold in New York's gallery ecosystem.