Root Systems: Artist Collectives in NYC

ANTE curatorial presents, “Root Systems: Artist Collectives in NYC” at Amos Eno Gallery, on view at the gallery’s Bushwick location from July 15th through July 30th, 2022. The exhibition features artworks referencing the artist collectives Amos Eno Gallery, ABC No Rio, Culture Push and SEQAA and examines the enduring legacy of these grassroots, artist-run collectives. Materials on view span new media, mixed media artworks, artist books, posters, marketing collateral and oral and written histories. Contemporary artworks by artist members of these organizations are presented throughout the exhibition, with the aim of featuring the present as well as the past of future of these compelling, artist-run initiatives.

This two-week popup exhibition shines a spotlight on NYC-based collectives Amos Eno Gallery, ABC No Rio, Culture Push and SEQAA: all artist-driven organizations spanning from several years to decades of art-making experience. Each collective holds space across the main gallery, communicating their mission, core values and each members’ studio practice in a manner consistent with their cultural impact across New York City. The exhibit offers a dialogue with the past and present while paving ahead, moving toward a resilient future for artist communities across the five boroughs.

____________________________________________________________________

SEQAA (2017) provides community and support for artists and arts workers living in the area of SEQ (South East Queens,) and advocates for quality arts programming in the local community. This artist alliance centers South East Queens as the area in which it builds community and engages the public with their work. The South East Queens Artists Alliance is comprised of visual artists and writers The Alliance’s mission is to nurture local talent and to support quality cultural programming.

_______________________

Culture Push (2008) is an arts organization that creates programs to nurture artists and other creative people who are approaching common problems through hands-on civic participation and imaginative problem-solving. The mission of Culture Push is to create a lively exchange of ideas between many different communities: artists and non-artists, professional practitioners and lay people, cross-generations, neighborhoods and cultures. Culture Push was founded in 2008 by Clarinda Mac Low, Aki Sasamoto and Arturo Vidich. Their individual visions feed into a larger vision: a fluid culture where lines between art, politics, daily life and social experiment can blur, and challenging the lines between disciplines leads to challenging the form of society.

_______________________

Amos Eno Gallery (1974) is one of New York City’s longest operating artist-run gallery spaces. The nonprofit art gallery provides a full season of exhibits by emerging and mid-career artists working in visual, performance, installation, interactive and/or digital media. The organization’s season is complemented by a diverse series of performances as well as educational and public programs for the New York area and beyond.

_______________________

ABC No Rio is a community center for art and activism. This artist-run organization has its roots in The Real Estate Show of 1980, held in Lower Manhattan. ABC No Rio is a community center for art and activism. The gallery and performance space was founded by artists committed to political and social engagement who retain these values to the present. Currently ‘in exile’ while they await the return of their headquarters, ABC No Rio offers opportunities for artists to explore in partnership with nonprofit, activist spaces including Bullet Space (Manhattan) and The Clemente Soto Velez Center (Manhattan,) among others.

Curatorial Team

Independent Curator Audra Lambert is based in Brooklyn, NY. Her curatorial perspective is informed by her M.A., Art History thesis covering Heresies and the legacy and limits of second-wave feminism. Lambert’s curatorial practice centers in grassroots perspectives. In addition to serving as Director, Amos Eno Gallery (2020-22) she co-founded Alt-break (art fair) - an community-centric art ‘fair’ - in 2016 and has curated exhibitions with Fountain House Gallery, Arsenal Gallery, the Center for Jewish History, the Living Gallery, and many others. As Principal, ANTE curatorial, she has curated exhibits at her Williamsburg Project space since 2019, and has worked with socially conscious and international organizations such as the White Roof Project, Art to Zebras, Radiator Gallery, Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security (WCAPS) and more.

______

Yamile Baez, curatorial assistant, is a City College of New York S. Jay Levy Fellow based in the Bronx, NY. Her studies at City College of New York focus on Art History, having taken classes on Ancient Mesoamerican art to Modern Latin American art. Recently, she earned a Connor Merit Award in the Undergraduate Art History Dept at CCNY. She previously worked as a curatorial intern at the Glyndor Building, Wave Hill, acquired via Bloomberg Philanthropies and Studio Institute.