By Fr Graeme Napier
Greenwich Village is known both for its art and for its live music scene. Our article in the October edition of WVN looked at the impact of the pandemic on the live music venues in the Village, reviewing the responses of some twenty of our most notable venues. This article, similarly, examines the affect of COVID-19 on our art galleries (public, not-for-profit, university, and commercial) by looking at some 35 of the Village’s best-loved art spaces, as a small but representative sample of the plethora of galleries, large and small, which characterize the culture of the Village.
The following 21 galleries are, sadly, now temporarily closed to in-person visiting. We include their websites, where they exist, for those who wish to view their art online. Given that you cannot view this art in person, perhaps this list will encourage you to spend some cold, wet November evening exploring these Village galleries virtually from the comfort of your own home.
Charles Schindler Studio & Gallery (101 Charles Street). Chambers Fine Art (East 11th Street: chambersfineart.com). Sari Moreno Fine Art (666 Greenwich Street: sarimorenofineart.com). All Things Project Gallery (269 Bleecker Street: allthingsproject.org). Ekaf Gallery (5 5th Avenue: luclapraye.com). Willard Gallery (12 East 12th Street). Cristinerose Gallery (41 East 11th Street: cristinerose.com). Greenspoon Gallery (71 Morton Street). Rock & Rogue Gallery (55 Greenwich Avenue: rockandrogue.com). 43 8th Avenue Gallery (43 8th Avenue). Westbeth Gallery (55 Bethune Street: westbeth.org). Danette Koke Fine Art (55 Bethune Street, within Westbeth: danettekokefineart.com). Andrew Miller Arts (259 West 12th Street: andrewmillerarts.com). The Quogue Gallery NYC (109 W 10th Street: quoguegallery.com). Gallery 10 (7 Greenwich Avenue). Exhibition Art & Technology (463 West Street). Art Museum NYC (833 Broadway: artmuseumnyc.com). Gallery Sand (47 Perry Street: gallerisand.com). Blank Space Art (30 Gansevoort Street: blankspaceart.com). Akira Ikeda Gallery (17 Cornelia Street: akiraikedagallery.com). Jane Hartsook Gallery (16 Jones Street: greenwichhouse.org).
The following six galleries are open to in-person viewing by appointment only (but, of course, display their art online also). Time Arts (178 Bleecker Street: timeartsus.com). Alyssa Davis Gallery (2 Cornelia Street: alyssadavis.gallery). Eli Klein Gallery (398 West Street: galleryek.com). 80WSE (NYU: see below for details). Ivy Brown Gallery (675 Hudson Street: ivybrowngallery.org). JHB Galleries (26 Grove Street: jhbgallery.com).
For those who enjoy the traditional leisurely walk around the Village’s galleries (and its cafés), here are six galleries which remain open to ‘walk-in’ patrons. (But see below for public and university galleries). Noting that all these galleries are open on Wednesdays, why not choose a dry Wednesday afternoon in November and explore.
Allouche Gallery (82 Gansevoort Street: allouchegallery.com), Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6pm. Robin Rice Gallery (325 West 11th Street: robinricegallery.com), Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, noon to 7pm. Revelation Gallery (224 Waverly Place: stjvny.org), Monday through Friday, 11am to 3pm. Margo Feiden Galleries (15 East 9th Street: alhirschfeld.com), Monday through Friday, 9am to 6pm. Stone Sparrow NYC (45 Greenwich Avenue: stonesparrownyc.com), Wednesday through Friday, 2pm to 5pm, and Saturdays noon to 4pm. Vito Schnabel Projects (43 Clarkson Street: vitoschnabel.com), Monday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm.
Of NYC’s public and university galleries the Whitney (whitney.org) is by far the largest in the Village. It has limited both its hours and its visitor capacity in response to the pandemic. Capacity limiting means that you must book your timed-entry ticket ($25/$18) in advance. The gallery is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and open until 6pm on other days, with the pay-what-you-wish evening session from 6pm to 9pm on Fridays (tickets, free if you like, for this must also be booked in advance). Members still enjoy many benefits, including free entry and members-only viewings on Mondays and Thursdays from 6pm to 7pm. Four special exhibitions run through November (including Lichtenstein’s Entablatures and Cauleen Smith’s Mutualities) and Making Knowing: Craft in Art 1950-2019 opens on 22 November.
The Village’s three principal universities/institutes (The New School, NYU, Pratt) operate six important galleries between them, three of which remain open. NYU’s Grey Art Gallery (100 Washington Square East: greyartgallery.nyu.edu) is closed as is its Gulf & Western Gallery (721 Broadway: photo.tisch.nyu.edu). Its 80WSE (80 Washington Square East: 80wse.org), however, remains open (and free) to the public by appointment Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 5 pm. Appointments must be made (by email) at least 48 hours in advance. They have now limited their capacity to two persons at a time, for no more than one hour. No exhibitions run through November. The next show (Jason Hirata: Sometimes You’re Both) opens on 3 December. Parsons School of Design (The New School) runs both the Anna-Maria & Stephen Kellen Gallery and the Arnold & Sheila Aronson Galleries (66 5th Avenue: newschool.edu). Both are open daily from noon to 6pm (and to 8pm on Thursdays). The Pratt Institute’s Manhattan Gallery (144 West 14th Street: pratt.edu) remains closed.
Because of the number of galleries temporarily closed the usual suite of November openings and drinks receptions, so much part of the Village’s art and social life, is rather thin. One such, however, is the opening of Le Village en dehors: paintings (and prints) of the Village in the summer of 2020 with its out-door dining and Parisian ambiance, by local artist Kazuya Morimoto. The opening reception is in three sessions on Tuesday 10 November: 6pm-7pm, 7pm-8pm, and 8pm-9pm. Each session is limited, for COVID safety, to 20 persons on a first-come first served basis. Reserve a place through St John’s in the Village (admin@stjvny.org or 212 243 6192), the curator body of Revelation Gallery, 224 Waverly Place.
