Announcing
ALTERNATIVE HISTORIES
a history of New York City alternative art spaces since the 1960s

Founders Papo Colo and Jeanette Ingberman at Exit Art, 578 Broadway, Manhattan, 1986

ALTERNATIVE HISTORIES
September 24 - November 24, 2010
Opening Friday, September 24, 7-9pm

NEW YORK – Alternative Histories is a history of New York City alternative art spaces and projects since the 1960s. Through audio interviews with founders and key staff, a reading room of magazines and publications, documentation, ephemera and narrative descriptions, the exhibition will tell the story of pioneering spaces – like P.S.1, Artists Space, Fashion Moda, Taller Boricua, ABC No Rio, The Kitchen, Franklin Furnace, Exit Art, 112 Greene Street/White Columns, Creative Time, Electronic Arts Intermix, Anthology Film Archives, Storefront for Art and Architecture, Just Above Midtown, and many more – as well as document a new generation of alternative projects such as Live With Animals, Fake Estate, Apartment Show, Pocket Utopia, Cleopatra’s, English Kills Art Gallery, Triple Candie, Esopus, and others.

Over 130 spaces are represented in the show, which elaborates on the significant contributions these organizations made to the cultural fabric of New York City. They gave visibility and inclusion to otherwise excluded artists and ideas. The idealism of the founders, the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in sustaining these histories, against all odds, illustrates the dynamic purposes that propel the artistic scene in New York. “Imagination is an alternative to reality, creating options that never end,” says curator Papo Colo.

The exhibition incorporates a broad definition of the term “alternative space,” and includes significant publications and artist collectives to cover a broad arc of this history – bridging neighborhoods, decades and themes. In the development and organization of this exhibition, the curatorial team viewed dozens of archives and personal collections – selecting critical materials from the histories of the spaces and projects – and interviewed founders and early staff members, when possible, to construct a narrative about the alternative space movement in New York and its continuing impact on the city’s cultural and artistic landscape.

FEATURED SPACES / PROJECTS
106 Green
112 Greene Street / 112 Workshop
179 Canal
255 Canal
98 Greene Street
A Gathering of the Tribes
A.I.R. Gallery
ABC No Rio
Abrons Arts Center
Ad Hoc Art
American Indian Community House
Anthology Film Archives
Apartment Show
Apex Art
Apple
Art in General
Artists Space
Asian American Arts Centre
Art Workers’ Coalition
Avalanche
Bidoun
Black & White Gallery and Project Space
BOMB
BRIC Rotunda Gallery
Bronx Blue Bedroom Project
Bronx River Art Center
Bullet Space
Cabinet
Camel Art Space
Camel Collective
Capricious
Cave
Cinders Gallery
Clayton Gallery & Outlaw Art Museum
Cleopatra’s
Colab
Collapsable Hole
Collective for Living Cinema
Creative Time
Cuchifritos
Daily Operation
Dumbo Arts Center
El Museo del Barrio
Electronic Arts Intermix
Elwa Productions
English Kills Art Gallery
Esopus
Eventos
Exit Art
Eyebeam
EyeLevel BQE
Factory Fresh
Fake Estate
Famous Accountants
Fashion Moda
Film-makers’ Cooperative
FiveMyles
Flux Factory
FOOD
Forever & Today
Four Walls
Franklin Furnace
GAle GAtes
Gigantic Artspace
Glowlab
Gran Fury
Group Material
Harvestworks
HKJB
INTAR Latin American Gallery
Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning
Judson Memorial Church
Just Above Midtown
Kenkeleba House
Kentler International Drawing Space
La MaMa
Light Industry
Live With Animals
Local Project
Location One
Longwood Arts Project
Lower East Side Print Shop
Millennium Film Workshop
Minor Injury
Momenta Art
MUSEUM: A Project of Living Artists
New Museum of Contemporary Art
Norte Maar
Not An Alternative
NURTUREart
Nuyorican Poets Café
Orchard
Political Art Documentation / Distribution
Paper
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
P.S.122
Parlour
Parlour Projects
PARTICIPANT INC
Pocket Utopia
Printed Matter
Rhizome
SculptureCenter
Secret Project Robot
The Kitchen
The Studio Museum in Harlem
Thread Waxing Space
Triple Candie
Triple Canopy
White Box
White Columns
World War III
X-Initiative

FEATURED INTERVIEWS
Bill Aguado, Longwood Arts Project
John Ahearn, artist
Jacki Apple, Apple
Alyson Baker and Ivana Mestrovic, Socrates Sculpture Park
Mike Ballou, Four Walls
Shelly Bancroft and Peter Nesbett, Triple Candie
Jackie Battenfield, BRIC Rotunda Gallery
John Bauch, MUSEUM: A Project of   Living Artists
Bill Beckley, artist
Steve Cannon, Gathering of the Tribes
Rhys Chatham, The Kitchen
Papo Colo and Jeanette Ingberman, Exit Art
Anita Contini, Creative Time
Michael Counts, GAle GAtes
Peter Cramer and Jack Waters, ABC No Rio
Marcos Dimas, Taller Boricua
Stefan Eins, Fashion Moda
Elizabeth Ferrer, BRIC Rotunda Gallery
Lia Gangitano, PARTICIPANT INC
Kathleen Gilrain, Smack Mellon
Tina Girouard, FOOD
Caroline Goodden, FOOD
Joseph Grima, Storefront for Art and Architecture
Antoine Guerrero and Christopher Lew, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
Alanna Heiss, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
Matthew Higgs, White Columns
Eric Heist, Momenta Art
Arthur Hughes, MUSEUM: A Project of Living Artists
Ken and Flo Jacobs, Millennium Film Workshop
Bob Lee, Asian American Arts Centre
Joe Lewis, Fashion Moda
Inverna Lockpez, INTAR Latin American Gallery
Alan Moore, Colab
George Negroponte, The Drawing Center
Tim Nye, Thread Waxing Space
Dennis Oppenheim, artist
Kyong Park, Storefront for Art and Architecture
Carol Parkinson, Harvestworks
Clayton Patterson, Clayton Gallery & Outlaw Art Museum
Ann Philbin, The Drawing Center
Anne Pundyk and Karen Yama, artists
Yvonne Rainer, artist
Steven Rand, Apex Art
Andrea Reynosa, Smack Mellon
Geno Rodriguez, Alternative Museum
Irving Sandler, Artists Space
MM Serra, Film-makers’ Cooperative
Peter Scott, Carriage Trade
Allan Schwartzman, New Museum of Contemporary Art
Duff Schweninger and Pamela Seymour Smith Sharp, Franklin Street Arts Center
Adam Simon, Four Walls
Greg Tate, author and musician
Jack Walsh, Collective for Living Cinema
Teresa Liszka and Martin Weinstein, Art in General
Martha Wilson, Franklin Furnace
Lori Zippay, Electronic Arts Intermix

Conceived by Papo Colo and Jeanette Ingberman.

Curatorial Team includes Herb Tam, Lauren Rosati, Papo Colo, Jeanette Ingberman and dozens of interns who worked for over two years to research and collect material.

PUBLIC EVENTS
What is Alternative?: Alternative Histories Symposia
What Is Alternative? is a symposia held in connection with the exhibition Alternative Histories that is intended to explain, expand, and expound on the history and future of alternative art spaces in New York City.

Friday, October 15, 2010 / 7-9pm
What is Alternative? / What is the Future of the Alternative?

Moderator: Robert Storr, Dean of Yale School of Art and former Curator in Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, NY (1990 – 2002)

This opening conversation amongst founders / directors of early and emerging alternative art spaces looks at the various definitions of an “alternative” space. Is alternative an accurate and appropriate word to describe its activities? What alternatives do these spaces provide, and for whom are they intended? Participants TBA.

Friday, October 29, 2010 / 7-9pm
Activism and the Rise of Alternative Art Spaces

Moderator: Mary Anne Staniszewski, Associate Professor and Acting Head of the Arts Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY

Investigating the early history of New York alternative spaces, this panel looks at the genesis, culture and legacy of this movement in the context of activism and political agency. Participants TBA.

Related Panel Discussion:
Friday, October 22, 2010 / 6-8pm
Alternative Curatorial Strategies Today
Organized and hosted by ArtTable at Exit Art

Moderator: Erin Donnelly, LMCC

Participants: Ingrid Chu and Savannah Gorton, Forever & Today; Allison Weisberg, Recess Activities; Michael Connor, Marian Spore; Regine Basha, Basha Projects/Grackleworld

ABOUT EXIT ART
Exit Art is an independent vision of contemporary culture. We are prepared to react immediately to important issues that affect our lives. We do experimental, historical and unique presentations of aesthetic, social, political and environmental issues. We absorb cultural differences that become prototype exhibitions. We are a center for multiple disciplines. Exit Art is a 28 year old cultural center in New York City founded by Directors Jeanette Ingberman and artist Papo Colo, that has grown from a pioneering alternative art space, into a model artistic center for the 21st century committed to supporting artists whose quality of work reflects the transformations of our culture. Exit Art is internationally recognized for its unmatched spirit of inventiveness and consistent ability to anticipate the newest trends in the culture. With a substantial reputation for curatorial innovation and depth of programming in diverse media, Exit Art is always changing.

EXHIBITION SUPPORT
This exhibition was generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. This exhibition is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.

General exhibition support provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; Bloomberg LP; Jerome Foundation; Lambent Foundation; Pollock-Krasner Foundation; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn; Exit Art’s Board of Directors and our members.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Exit Art is located at 475 Tenth Avenue, corner of 36th Street. Hours: Tues. – Thurs., 10am – 6pm; Fri., 10am – 8pm; and Sat., noon – 8pm. Closed Sun. and Mon. There is a suggested donation of $5. For more information please call 212-966-7745 or visit www.exitart.org.

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