From The Archives: 40 Years / 40 Projects- an exhibition celebrating the forty year history of White Columns and 112 Greene Street / 112 Workshop inc.

Opening reception: Tuesday, January 13, 6- 8 pm.

Documentation and works relating to exhibitions and projects by: MARJORIE STRIDER, GORDON MATTA-CLARK, ALAN SARET, ALICE AYCOCK, WILLOUGHBY SHARP, LIZA BEAR, MARTHA WILSON, JAIME DAVIDOVICH, WILLIAM WEGMAN, BREAD & PUPPET THEATER, HARMONY HAMMOND, ALLAN McCOLLUM, FRED BRATHWAITE, LEE QUINONES, KIM GORDON, SUSAN GRAYSON, NEIL JENNEY, ‘ARTIST/CRITIC’, ‘NEW CAPITAL’, FRANK MAJORE, ‘SEDUCTION’, STURTEVANT, PETER SAVILLE, GROUP MATERIAL, FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES, LORNA SIMPSON, JON TOWER, JOHN CURRIN, FRED WILSON, LUTZ BACHER, TOM BURR, JACK PIERSON, TERESA SCHMITTROTH, JOSEPH GRIGELY, KATHE BURKHART, LOVETT / CODAGNONE, ‘WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION’, SARAH SZE, ‘FOOD’, JESSICA CRAIG-MARTIN, AIDA RUILOVA, CHERYL DONEGAN, ‘GLORIA’, ‘FAST FORWARD’, ALTHEA THAUBERGER, AURIE RAMIREZ, JOHN STEZAKER, MICHAEL PATTERSON-CARVER, VINCE ALETTI’S ‘DISCO FILES’, and much more …

“The oddest art showplace in town.” – Peter Schjeldahl, New York Times, November 1970

In 2009 White Columns celebrates its 40th year of continuous operation. Founded in 1970 by artist Jeffrey Lew and initially known by its original street address – 112 Greene Street / 112 Workshop inc. – White Columns was a pioneer and a catalyst in the artist-run space movement of the 1970s / 1980s and it remains New York’s oldest alternative gallery. Over the past four decades literally thousands of artists have benefitted from the support of 112 Greene Street and White Columns.

Arranged chronologically ‘40 Years / 40 Projects’ is a revelatory – and celebratory – exhibition that focuses on one exhibition, event, or project that took place at the gallery for each of its forty years. Whilst inevitably partial – a complete overview of all the gallery’s activities would be logistically impossible – ‘40 Years / 40 Projects’ hopes to reveal something of the genuine complexity, and eccentricity, of the gallery’s organically evolving programs over the past four decades. ‘40 Years / 40 Projects’ privileges material drawn from the gallery’s archive alongside material from the archives of the original participating artists. This archival material is juxtaposed with a number of artworks originally shown at the gallery during this period.

We would like to thank and acknowledge all of the artists and curators who have contributed to the programs of 112 Greene Street and White Columns over the past forty years. We would also like to sincerely thank all the former staff members, volunteers, and supporters – without whose efforts White Columns would not exist today.

‘40 Years, 40 Projects’ has been organized by White Columns’ curator Amie Scally and White Columns’ director Matthew Higgs.