Outer Boroughs

OUTER BOROUGHS, curated by Paul Ha and Lauren Ross

For the first show of its thirtieth season, White Columns presents Outer Boroughs, a selection of local artists living and working outside of Manhattan who are included in the White Columns slide file. This exhibition presents a glimpse into the slide file’s contents, which reflect the diversity of the great number of working artists, while also serving as a partial sampling of what is being produced in artists’ studios at this moment in the New York area. It is also an aim of Outer Boroughs to bring together audiences who may not venture outside of Manhattan and the artists in our area, most of whom live and work in the other boroughs of New York City and in New Jersey.

White Columns is the oldest alternative space in New York. Our mission has always been to showcase the work of emerging artists whose talents are underrepresented. Over the course of thirty years of presenting pivotal artists working on the edge of contemporary art, many distinguished artists have had a first exhibition at White Columns early in their careers. Outer Boroughs will continue this tradition of showing up-and-coming artists, some of whom have shown previously at White Columns, and some for whom this will be a first show in New York City.

All of the artists in Outer Boroughs have slides in the White Columns slide file, a registry of the work of artists who are without commercial gallery representation in New York City. The artists are selected for the file by the Executive Director through an ongoing slide review process. The selection process is quite competitive, with only an estimated 20% acceptance rate. The file contains approximately 2,000 artists of all ages throughout the United States and abroad. In addition to being used to curate exhibitions at White Columns, the file is open to public and frequently used by independent curators, gallerists and others who are looking for new and upcoming artists. In this manner, the file helps emerging artists gain opportunities beyond White Columns while fostering new audiences for experimental art.

The 179 artists participating in Outer Boroughs are listed on the reverse side.