GOTHAM GALLERY
Jim Watt, architect, artist, activist and Asbury Park native is among the contemporary artists we will display on reopening. Photo by Noah Fecks for Architectural Digest.
By Bret Csencsitz
Emily in front of Ed Ruscha’s "Unstructured Merriment," 2016, with us briefly for Younger.
In the midst of last winter’s discontent, Gotham was scouted for an episode of the Younger TV series. A fictional dinner scene inspired me and our our skeleton crew to stage the bare tables, boozeless bar, and glaringly empty walls. Walls that once held mainly black-and-white photos of New York’s glitz and grit were now in need of something new, for Younger and beyond.
Enter Emily Santangelo. International curator and art advisor, Emily had been introduced to me by Joni Weyl and Sidney Felsen, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based artists’ workshop Gemini G.E.L. and longtime friends of Gotham.
For the reopening of Gotham Gallery, Emily will curate a rotating collection of vibrant contemporary art by established and emerging artists with an emphasis when possible on NYC.
A Look Back: Our Gemini G.E.L. for Martin Friedman Gallery
In 2016, upon the passing of Martin Friedman, the former director of Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center who lived above Gotham, we were proud to partner with Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl on curating a Gotham Gallery in Martin’s honor.
Martin—and his formidable late wife Mickey—had become far more than guests to me, as we spoke extensively about art and life over their almost-daily lunch. In awe of Martin’s work and life, I wanted to honor him with an exhibition of artists whose legacies he touched.
Last year when selling Gotham’s previous art collection, I felt like I was saying good-bye to old friends who’d looked down on us while we worked and dined, sometimes invisibly, often as conversation pieces, providing unexpected inspiration, rescuing a lull.
Sad to see some go, I was excited about our new world of creative opportunities, of a piece with our fresh chance to be intentional and meaningful with every choice we make, how we use the space that will be in the eyeshot of some 100,000 thousand diners every year—starting with ART FOR CHANGE.
GROWNYC x ART FOR CHANGE
To inaugurate our new arts program, we will display four new prints from ART FOR CHANGE that celebrate women artists in the New York area and benefit GrowNYC, a close partner of Gotham whose board on which I serve. ART FOR CHANGE is a New York-based company dedicated to facilitating positive change in the world by encouraging artists to maintain a significant portion of their proceeds. Their stated belief that “direct investment in individuals is vital to a thriving cultural ecosystem” resonates well with our vision for Gotham 2.0.
For this special collection, ART FOR CHANGE worked with Danielle Orchard, Gina Beavers, Hiba Schahbaz, and Amy Lincoln to create new limited-edition prints, the sale from which 20% of net proceeds will support GrowNYC. Consider making a contribution with your purchase from this gorgeous series at artforchange.com.
At this new beginning we take a final look back at the art of Gotham past with a hat tip to our great city, the world’s portal to our land of hope and dreams.
A PROPER SENDOFF
“In my 30+ years as a New Yorker, this city has been many cities in one and, despite setbacks, New York has always found a way forward: In 1993 as the city was rebounding, we faced the fear of the first World Trade Center bombing and forged on; in 2001 we were shell-shocked by 9/11 but screwed our courage to the sticking and, even as we mourned, watched our city return to new prominence; in 2008 New York was at the center of a financial crisis that threatened our resilience, but yet again the city snapped back to its place as the metropolis of America. And now as our global pandemic, which crippled the city last year and continues to “pump its breaks,” Gotham resilience rumbles again…”
—From “Our Road to Return” by Bret Csencsitz
Thank you, Sutton Foster, we’ve missed it, too. Hope to see you back here for real (and on Broadway!) soon.