DOWNTOWN 2021 is currently on view through February 20th, at La MaMa Galleria on Great Jones Street. The show curated by Sam Gordon includes more than 30 exhibiting artists from 26 New York galleries from Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
The exhibition’s name is a nod to Downtown 81, a film starring Jean-Michele Basquiat. The story line could be referred to as “a day in the life of” the artist before his rise to fame. The film showcases the artist’s struggle in downtown New York but highlights and focuses on the cultural flux the city pulsated with - from graffiti culture, to the music and night scene.
40 years later ‘Downtown’ is presented as an “idea, a state of mind and a generative space”, not just a physical location in New York City. The exhibition consists of paintings, sculptures, videos, installations, photographs and even a collection of short films.
“Taken together, the spaces reveal the currents of new visual culture and the idea of a new downtown, taking shape through painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, video, installation, and touching on themes of collaboration, liberation, dance, and bartending.”
The exhibition's variety of work and medium reflects today's vibrant art scene in the city. Hat's off to La MaMa Galleria and Sam Gordon for curating and presenting a show encompassing that many artists and galleries across New York City.
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