Alternative exhibition space

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

An alternative exhibition space is a space other than a traditional commercial venue used for the public exhibition of artwork. Often comprising a place converted from another use, such as a store front, warehouse, or factory loft, it is then made into a display or performance space for use by an individual or group of artists. According to art advisor Allan Schwartzman "alternative spaces were the center of American artistic life in the '70s."[1]

United States

1970s

A prominent wave of alternative spaces in the United States occurred in the 1970s,

The Kitchen, an avant-garde performance space, was established in New York in 1971. Around the same time, And/Or Gallery opened in Seattle, Washington, the first alternative space of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. It was founded by Anne Focke. Bonnie Sherk's Crossroads Community (The Farm), another early alternative space, was established in San Francisco in 1974.[8] Real Art Ways, in Hartford, Connecticut, was founded in 1975.[9]

P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
in New York City

The wave of alternative spaces that emerged in the US through the mid-1970s were typically organized by collectives of artists whose interests were focused on conceptual art, mixed media, electronic media, diversity and performance art.

P.S 1, was founded in 1976.[11] Exit Art in Manhattan opened in 1982. In 1981 the New Museum staged the exhibition "Alternatives in Retrospect: An Historical Overview 1969–1975", guest curated by Jacki Apple. This exhibition looked at early New York alternative galleries, Gain Ground, Apple, 98 Greene Street, 112 Greene Street Workshop, 10 Blecker Street, Idea Warehouse and 3 Mercer.[12] The exhibition was documented with a publication and video.[13][14]
Macdonald argues that such spaces emerged in the wake of art practices in the 1960s and 1970s that reacted against the presumed neutrality of the "white cube" gallery space.[11]

Alternative Spaces exhibition

In Chicago, the exhibition Alternative Spaces curated by Lynne Warren at the

H.C. Westermann, Ed Paschke (HPAC), Leon Golub, Nancy Spero (CAC), Hollis Sigler, Vera Klement (Artemisia), Phil Berkman and Gary Justis (N.A.M.E.).[17]

Demise in the U.S.

Among the factors contributing to the demise of alternative spaces in the late 1980s in the USA was the reduction of public funding for artists and for the arts. With the election of

some artists found employment, and restrictions placed upon the National Endowment for the Arts.[18] The net result of the rightward ideological movement in government – with its open hostility to non-traditional art – was that 'alternative artists' were not only de-funded, they and the galleries that featured them were prominently criminalized.[19][20] By the 1990s, NEA funding was significantly reduced, and so was the number of non-profit galleries.[21]

Europe

In Europe the culture of alternative exhibition spaces differs somewhat from the situation in the United States and has a strong root in the

MK Gallery in Milton Keynes and formerly projects such as 491 Gallery and 121 Centre. Belgium has Het Bos in Antwerp. Liebig 12 is an alternative exhibition space in Berlin. In Vienna there is Moë. Ljubljana has Metelkova with many alternative art spaces, and Copenhagen has alternative spaces in Freetown Christiania. Grand Palais,[22] Lokal-int or Kaskadenkondensator_Basel are an alternative art spaces in Switzerland. The website OFFOFF offers an overview of the swiss scene. Hirvitalo is in Helsinki, Finland. In Moldova, coalition of independent cultural sector developed Casa Zemstvei
as an alternative exhibition space in 2012.

References

  1. ISBN 0-8166-3794-6
  2. ^ Robert Atkins, On edge: alternative spaces today, Art in America, Nov, 1998, p2.
  3. ^
    S2CID 221065038
    .
  4. ^ Byrt, Anthony. "Brand, new". Frieze Magazine. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  5. ^ Terroni, Christelle (7 October 2011). "The Rise and Fall of Alternative Spaces". Books&ideas.net. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-8166-3794-6
  7. ^ Goldstein, Andrew M (May 2, 2008). "The Principal of P.S.1: Can Alanna Heiss's vision for her museum outlast her?",New York Magazine, recovered on March 19, 2009.
  8. ISBN 0-520-24053-7
  9. ^ Robert Atkins, On edge: alternative spaces today, Art in America, Nov, 1998
  10. ISBN 0-520-20251-1
  11. ^
    ISBN 1-4051-0839-8
  12. ^ "Alternatives in Retrospect exhibition". New Museum website. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  13. ^ "Alternatives in Retrospect publication". New Museum website. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  14. ^ "Alternatives in Retrospect". Video Data Bank. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  15. ^ Warren, Lynne. 1984. Alternative spaces : a history in Chicago. Chicago. Museum of Contemporary Art.
  16. ^ 'Art Facts: Axe St. Arena's closing statement.' Chicago Reader. 13 July 1989.
  17. ^ Warren, Lynne. 1984. 'Alternative spaces : a history in Chicago. Checklist of the Exhibition, June 23-August 19, 1984'. Chicago. Museum of Contemporary Art.
  18. ^ McLellan, Joseph (26 September 1985). "NEA: The First 20 Years; Looking Back On the Up-and-Down Union of Government and Art". Washington Post.
  19. ^ c.f. National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley et al. 524 U.S. 569 118 S. Ct. 2168, 141 L. Ed. 2d 500, 1998 U.S.
  20. ^ 'Mapplethorpe battle changed art world'. Cincinnati Enquirer. 21 May 2000.
  21. ISBN 0-8166-3794-6
  22. ^ "Grand Palais | www.grandpalais.ch". Retrieved 6 April 2023.
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