New York, NY – New York Gallery Week, a new initiative organized collectively by 50 Manhattan-based contemporary art galleries and 7 not for profits – spanning Chelsea, SoHo, the Lower East Side/Bowery, the Upper East Side, and 57th Street – will launch its pilot program in May 2010.
With a shared desire to refocus the art world’s attention toward the city’s longstanding exceptional gallery programming, a group of emerging and established galleries have come together with a mission to put the spotlight back on the galleries and the artists.
At its core, New York Gallery Week (NYGW) 2010 is a presentation of over 50 solo gallery exhibitions, along with an unprecedented concentration of scores of free events and programs, the majority taking place inside the galleries themselves. With NYGW’s members organizing themselves to offer this ambitious, simultaneous programming, NYGW offers unique access to a wide range of special gallery produced artistic experiences in one concentrated period of time.
Solo exhibitions recognize and celebrate that singular moment in time when an individual artist’s vision is cohesively presented in one gallery space, prior to when the works are sold and redistributed to collectors, museums, and elsewhere. By showcasing 50 major solo exhibitions, NYGW encourages visitors to frequent these shows multiple times throughout the weekend, for various viewings and different perspectives.
Complementing these exhibitions will be intimate, informal talks by artists; guided gallery tours by artists, curators, art historians, gallery staff; panel discussions; film screenings; book signings; performances; special artist receptions; and more.
The inaugural year’s NYGW is actually a long weekend (kicking off on Friday, May 7 and ending on the evening of Monday May, 10). Galleries are normally closed on Sundays and Mondays, yet NYGW’s participants will be open throughout the weekend with extended hours. NYGW will become an annual event, and expand to a full week in future years.
Often acknowledged for mounting innovative and influential museum-quality shows – all free and open to the public, and changing every 4 to 6 weeks – these internationally renowned and respected galleries have catered both to longtime art collectors, and the general public alike. Expected at NYGW are art world enthusiasts from around the globe, such as individual art collectors; members of museum boards and collecting groups; museum directors, curators and staff members; cultural journalists and critics; art dealers; and of course artists.
In addition to the international, national, and local communities and audiences, outreach is being made in conjunction with tourism and travel organizations. NYGW offers something original not just to the art world and local residents, but to NYC visitors, as well. In the long-term, these galleries plan to become must-see cultural destinations similar to the city’s museums, theaters, and other customary tourist attractions.
Regionally, NYGW is working directly with some of the city’s schools, organizing gallery events and tours with teachers and students from the local universities, art schools, high schools, grade schools, kindergartens, and other youth groups. Often referred to as “mom-and-pop shops,” the majority of NYGW’s galleries are individually owned, yet collectively make up a diverse and cohesive community and expansive industry. These relatively small businesses not only produce world-class exhibitions, but altogether they employ a wide range of companies and hundreds of individuals around the city, including shippers, framers, conservators, foundries, architects, contractors, photographers, website designers, among many others.
Started by Casey Kaplan, the founding committee members of NYGW include Jane Hait of Wallspace, Anton Kern, Friedrich Petzel, Jason Murison of Friedrich Petzel, Andrew Richards of Marian Goodman Gallery, Pascal Spengemann and Kelly Taxter of Taxter & Spengemann, David Zwirner, Angela Choon and Julia Joern of David Zwirner.
Participants & confirmed solo shows
303 Gallery – Karel Funk
Miguel Abreu Gallery – Blake Rayne
Marianne Boesky Gallery – Hans Op de Beeck
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery – Uta Barth. Ian Kiaer
Alexander and Bonin – Willie Doherty
Bortolami – Eric Wesley
Gavin Brown’s enterprise – Martin Creed
Canada – Katherine Bernhardt
James Cohan Gallery – Alison Elizabeth Taylor
Lisa Cooley – Andy Coolquitt
D’Amelio Terras – Sara VanDerBeek
Eleven Rivington – Hilary Berseth
Elizabeth Dee – Josephine Meckseper
Deitch Projects – Shepard Fairey
Derek Eller Gallery – Dominic McGill
Zach Feuer Gallery – Johannes VanDerBeek
Foxy Production – Hany Armanious
James Fuentes Gallery – Claude Lévêque
Gladstone Gallery – Marisa Merz. Cameron Jamie
Marian Goodman Gallery – Thomas Struth
Alexander Gray Associates – TBA
Greene Naftali – Joachim Koester
Jack Hanley Gallery – Amy Yao
Lehmann Maupin Gallery – Shirazeh Houshiary
Harris Lieberman – Evan Holloway
Hauser & Wirth – Roni Horn
Casey Kaplan – Trisha Donnelly
Anton Kern Gallery – Wilhelm Sasnal
Andrew Kreps Gallery – Padraig Timoney
Luhring Augustine Gallery – TBA
Maccarone – Ann Craven
Matthew Marks Gallery – Darren Almond. Anne Truitt
Metro Pictures – T.J. Wilcox
Mitchell-Innes & Nash – William Pope.L
Murray Guy – Patricia Esquivias
David Nolan New York – Jim Nutt
Nyehaus – TBA
Friedrich Petzel Gallery – Jorge Pardo. Thomas Eggerer
Andrea Rosen Gallery – Nate Lowman. Karla Black
Jack Shainman Gallery – Lynette Boakye. Carrie Mae Weems
Salon 94 / Salon 94 Freemans – Liz Cohen
Sikkema Jenkins & Co. – Amy Sillman
Skarstedt Gallery – Mike Kelley
Reena Spaulings Fine Art – TBA
Sperone Westwater – TBA
Taxter & Spengemann – Scott Olson
Team –Gardar Eide Einarsson
Tracy Williams Gallery – Barbara Bloom
Wallspace – Mark Wyse
David Zwirner – Mamma Andersson. Jockum Nordström
Not-for-profits
Artistspace
Dispatch
The Drawing Center
The Kitchen
Participant
Swiss Institute
www.newyorkgalleryweek.com
