Swamp Dogg: If You Can Kill It I Can Cook It

Way more than your average cookbook.

Before there was Snoop Dogg there was Swamp Dogg—legendary singer, songwriter, and record producer whose singular voice and ideas have shaped the history not merely of soul music, but of country, hip-hop, bluegrass, and more. 

And while music was Swamp's first love, his iconoclastic album art—featuring him situated as a hot dog on one such cover—proved that this fabled man of taste has another one: food. In 1972, Swamp Dogg proclaimed that he would write a "book that Hemingway wanted to write and that Agatha Christie couldn’t.” Now, more than 50 years later, that book is finally here. Pioneer Works Press is excited to present If You Can Kill It I Can Cook It, a comprehensive cookbook by the cult artist to be released on May 20, 2025.

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CONCERT

Moses Sumney:
Songs From The New Album

Monday, April 7th at 7 & 9:30 pm

Moses Sumney performs two (now sold-out) shows in our North Hall. ?The artist is known for evading definition as an act of duty: technicolor self-directed videos and monochrome clothes; Art Rock and Black Classical music; seemingly infinite collaborators such as Solange and Sufjan Stevens, but one staggering voice. This event is sold out and guest list is closed. 

CONCERT

False Harmonics #23: Brìghde Chaimbeul, Cleek Schrey & Nora Brown, Laura Ortman

Tuesday, April 8th at 8 pm

For the 23rd iteration, False Harmonics welcomes Scottish piper Brìghde Chaimbeul to the Pioneer Works North Hall, along with special performances by NYC-based duo of Cleek Schrey (fiddle) & Nora Brown (banjo), as well as a solo performance by violinist Laura Ortman.

CONCERT

Ende Tymes 15: Aaron Dilloway, The Rita, Spiteful Womb, Charmaine Lee, Valise

Thursday, April 10th at 8 pm

Pioneer Works presents is excited to host the opening night of the 15th Annual Ende Tymes Festival featuring five treasured artists from the heights and depths of noise exploration. Aaron Dilloway returns to Pioneer Works with his Michelin star tape machines. The Rita will present their premiere presentation as a trio, featuring two pantomimes alongside their longstanding research into visceral music. Spiteful Womb, Charmaine Lee, and Valise will provide support.

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PROGRAM

Second Sundays

Sunday, April 13th between 12–6 pm

This month’s event is packed with immersive exhibitions, open studios, scavenger hunts, live music with Nour Harkiti, a conversation between Jamieson Webster and Leslie Jamison?, and a workshop with Andros Zins-Brown. It’s also the final day to experience American Artist’s solo exhibition, Shaper of God. See the full program schedule on our website.

Free RSVP to Second Sundays

PROGRAM

Second Sundays: The Chaos Opera Workshop

Sunday, April 13th between 3–4 pm

Choreographer and performance artist Andros Zins-Browne talks about breath with Jamieson Webster before leading a group in The Chaos Opera, a participatory workshop for voice. Exploring ways that we can sing together without singing the same, The Chaos Opera opens up the potentials of dissonance to inspire deep listening and cohesive cacophony. Registration for the workshop is required. No vocal experience or expertise needed.

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PROGRAM

Why We Die: Venki Ramakrishnan and Janna Levin in Conversation

Tuesday, April 29th at 7:30 pm

Join us to celebrate Venki Ramakrishnan, Nobel Prize-winning biologist and author of Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality. In conversation with Director of Sciences Janna Levin, Ramakrishnan will delve into the biological mechanisms that initiate the process of dying and the ethical and societal questions surrounding the pursuit of immortality.

Free RSVP

CONCERT

Kim Gordon

Friday, May 2nd at 8 pm

Pioneer Works is excited to team up with Bang on a Can to present the opening night of Long Play Festival with a performance from the iconic Kim Gordon with her band. Gordon brings her latest LP The Collective to the Main Hall for a night of genre-defying sound.

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EXHIBITION

American Artist: Shaper of God

Last chance: On view through Sunday, April 13th

Comprising video, sculpture, drawing, installation, and a monograph, artist and PW Resident Alum American Artist examines the life and work of science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler’s. The exhibition explores the speculative worlds of Butler's fiction alongside intimate biographical details of her personal life, intertwining both to illuminate the world she foresaw in her work.

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EXHIBITION

Yehwan Song: Are We Still (Surfing)? 

On view through Sunday, May 11, 2025

Through her solo exhibition Are We Still (Surfing)?, artist and PW Resident Alum Yehwan Song explores the transformation that modern internet users face, as their agency diminishes and they fall victim to the looped content of platform-driven algorithms.?

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EXHIBITION

Hprizm: Sound of the City

On view through Sunday, May 11, 2025

In early electronic music, tape, voice, and environment factored heavily into it’s synthesis. Moving between abstract noise and melodic interludes, Sound of the City offers a sonic score of Hprizm’s lived environment.? The result is an immersive auditory meditation on migration and gentrification in cities today.

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SUPPORT

New York's Hottest Club is...

The Village Fete After Party!

Join us on Tuesday, May 6th to toast to our founder Dustin Yellin’s 50th birthday and celebrate with our community. The After Party features a special performance by Annie and the Caldwells, DJ sets by Chances with Wolves and FAUZIA, installations, and activations throughout the space—in addition to open bars, cocktail fountains, a cannabis bar, and more surprises that await.?

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PW Store

American Artist: Shaper of God Monograph, $35

Edited by Zainab Aliyu, the Shaper of God monograph features American Artist's solo exhibition at Pioneer Works, delving into pivotal themes of Butler’s oeuvre with contributions from writers Taylor Renee Aldridge, Lou Cornum, Tananarive Due, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Ayana A. Jamieson, and Fred Moten.

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Broadcast Issue 02, $20

The first print issue of Broadcast was an award-winning compendium of the magazine’s best work across the arts and sciences. Nominated for a National Magazine Award, Broadcast’s second issue features Hilton Als on Prince’s Eyes, How Adderall Changed America, Sex with Neanderthals New Fiction by Isle McElroy, Ordering Elements, and more.