White Columns

Coordinates: 40°44′20″N 74°0′31″W / 40.73889°N 74.00861°W / 40.73889; -74.00861
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Previous location of White Columns, at 320 West 13th Street, New York City.

White Columns is New York City's oldest alternative non-profit art space.[1] White Columns is known as a showcase for up-and-coming artists, and is primarily devoted to emerging artists who are not affiliated with galleries. All work submitted is looked at by the director. Some of the artists receive studio visits and some of those artists are exhibited. White Columns maintained a slide registry of emerging artists, which is now an online curated artist registry.

History and locations[edit]

White Columns was founded in 1970 in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City by Jeffrey Lew and Gordon Matta-Clark. It was then known as 112 Workshop/112 Greene Street.

In 1979 it relocated to 325 Spring Street and was renamed White Columns. Directors of White Columns have included Josh Baer, Tom Solomon, Bill Arning, Paul Ha, Lauren Ross, and current director Matthew Higgs.[2][3][4][5]

In 1991 it moved to Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. In 1998, White Columns moved to a location on the border of Greenwich Village and the Meatpacking District,[6] initiated by then-director Ha, who inaugurated the space with the exhibition "Inventory".[7] In 2018, White Columns relocated to its present location at 91 Horatio Street, close to the Whitney Museum of American Art and the High Line.[8]

Since being founded, White Columns has supported and provided exposure to hundreds of artists including Alice Aycock,[9] Stephen Laub,[10] Willoughby Sharp,[11] Kiki Smith,[12] Sonic Youth,[13] Andres Serrano, Lorna Simpson, John Currin,[14] Cady Noland, Tyler Turkle,[15][16][17][18] Sarah Sze,[19] Lutz Bacher and others. To this day, White Columns continues its support for artists with an ongoing program of exhibitions[20] and to hundreds of other artists through their online Artist Registry.[21]

In 2006, director Matthew Higgs initiated the White Columns Annual, a yearly exhibition with guest curators that highlights work that has been on view in New York City in the prior year.[22][23] It has been curatored by artists and art figures like Mary Manning, Bridget Donahue, Bob Nickas, Pati Hertling, and Randy Kennedy.[23][24][25][26]

112 Workshop[edit]

From 1970 to 1980 112 Workshop was an Artists-run studio and exhibition space that helped to define Minimal conceptual art and Post-conceptual art practice in New York City. It was founded by Jeffrey Lew and Gordon Matta-Clark at 112 Greene Street in Soho.[27] The space contributed to the development of Conceptual art and Postmodern dance of the early 1970s and Post-conceptual art in the late-1970s.[28] In 1979 it relocated to 325 Spring Street, and was renamed White Columns.[29]

Participating artists[edit]

At 112 Workshop, artists were given free rein to produce, experiment and challenge art orthodoxies. In this crumbling large space, Gordon Matta-Clark installed his work Walls Paper in 1972.[30] Vito Acconci locked himself in a tiny room with a fighting cock in a piece he called Combination (1971).[31] Following their first New York performance at the Leo Castelli Gallery, Richard Landry and Musicians presented five concerts at 112 in March 1972 and Carmen Beuchat presented her dance/performance Mass in C B Minor or the Brown Table the same year (1972).

Homage Exhibition[edit]

In 2011, David Zwirner Gallery presented the exhibition 112 Greene Street: The Early Years (1970–1974).

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Krenz, Marcel. Random Order. Flash Art. July–Sept. 2003: 67.
  2. ^ "White Columns – Exhibitions". whitecolumns.org.
  3. ^ Stephanie Cash "People – Brief Article". Art in America. April 2000. FindArticles.com. July 19, 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_4_88/ai_61755671
  4. ^ Stephanie Cash "Paul Ha, director since 1996 of the alternative space White Columns in New York – appointed, Yale University Art Gallery – Brief Article". Art in America. Sept 2001. FindArticles.com. July 19, 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_9_89/ai_78334751
  5. ^ "White Columns". Art in America. Nov 2004. FindArticles.com. July 19, 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_10_92/ai_n7069957
  6. ^ "White Columns – History of White Columns". whitecolumns.org.
  7. ^ HOLLAND COTTER (May 15, 1998). "ART REVIEW; A Tour Through Chelsea, The New Center of Gravity". The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  8. ^ "About". White Columns. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  9. ^ "Asphalt Flat/ Cloud Formation Project". White Columns. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  10. ^ "Archive". White Columns. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  11. ^ "Willoughby Sharp: Inside Out". White Columns. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  12. ^ "September '81". White Columns.
  13. ^ "Speed Trials". White Columns. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  14. ^ "Art Magazine Review of "White Room"". White Columns. Arts Magazine. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  15. ^ "Update 85–86". White Columns. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  16. ^ "Twentieth Anniversary Benefit Exhibition". White Columns. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  17. ^ "Plastic History". White Columns. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  18. ^ "The New Capital". White Columns. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  19. ^ HOLLAND COTTER (September 12, 1997). "Art in Review". The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  20. ^ "Current Exhibition June 14 – July, 2013". White Columns. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  21. ^ "Curated Artist Registry". White Columns. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  22. ^ Fateman, Johanna (March 1, 2022). ""Looking Back: The 12th White Columns Annual"". Artforum. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  23. ^ a b Wise, Lloyd (May 1, 2014). ""Looking Back: The 8th White Columns Annual"". Artforum. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  24. ^ Diehl, Travis (January 24, 2024). "At White Columns Annual, Outsiders Mix With Insiders". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  25. ^ Munro, Cait (January 15, 2015). "Understanding 2014 at White Columns's Annual". Artnet News. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  26. ^ Cotter, Holland (December 23, 2010). "'LOOKING BACK': 'The Fifth White Columns Annual'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  27. ^ [1] 112 Greene Street: The Soho that Used to Be, at Hyperallergic
  28. ^ Brentano, Robyn and Mark Savitt, eds. 112 Workshop/ 112 Greene Street History, Artists & ArtworksNew York University Press, New York. 1981
  29. ^ "About". White Columns. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  30. ^ [2] 112 Greene Street as Site, Tate Museum
  31. ^ [3] 112 Greene Street: The Soho that Used to Be, at Hyperallergic

References[edit]

  • Jessamyn Fiore (ed.), 112 Greene Street: The Early Years, 1970–1974, Radius Books, 2012
  • Krenz, Marcel. Random Order. Flash Art. July–Sept. 2003: 67–69.
  • Brenson, Michael. 'Structures,' Exhibition at White Columns. The New York Times. December 13, 1985
  • Robyn Brentano and Mark Savitt (eds.), 112 Workshop/112 Greene Street: History, Artists & Artwork, New York University Press, 1981

Discography[edit]

References[edit]

  • Krenz, Marcel. “Random Order.” Flash Art. July–Sept. 2003: 67–69.
  • White Columns History
  • Brenson, Michael. "'Structures,' Exhibition at White Columns." The New York Times. December 13, 1985

External links[edit]

40°44′20″N 74°0′31″W / 40.73889°N 74.00861°W / 40.73889; -74.00861