(graphic courtesy Condo New York)
It’s called “condo,” but it’s really more like couch-surfing: for the next month, 16 New York City galleries will give over their spaces to a slate of 36 international galleries. The resulting unwieldy exhibition, Condo New York, spans spaces in Chelsea, the Lower East Side, and Tribeca, which are being turned over to galleries from Shanghai, Vienna, Guatemala City, Detroit, Los Angeles, and numerous other nodes on the art world map. The show, which launches with an all-venue preview today, June 29, marks the States-side debut for Condo, which has happened in London twice already.
The full map of Condo New York exhibitors and venues (click to enlarge)
Though it’s unclear exactly who will be showing what, and how the whole international patchwork will fit together thematically or aesthetically, the participating out-of-town galleries are a promising lineup. Revered Mexico City gallery Labor will be taking over Gavin Brown’s Enterprise’s space on Grand Street, for instance, while Callicoon Fine Arts turns over the keys to its Delancey Street space to Dublin’s venerable Mother’s Tankstation gallery.
A little digging reveals glimpses of what’s in store for Condo New York. For instance, Detroit’s What Pipeline will be showing works by Mary Ann Aitken and Dylan Spaysky in the Andrew Kreps Gallery space in Chelsea. Down on the Bowery, at Bridget Donahue, London outfit Project Native Informant will showcase the appropriated advertising images of airbrushed women by Harumi Yamaguchi. One of the most ambitious presentations may be Leo Xu Projects’ A New Ballardian Vision at Metro Pictures, which will juxtapose works by the host gallery’s roster of artists (Camille Henrot, Martin Kippenberger, Trevor Paglen, Cindy Sherman, etc.) with works by younger Chinese artists, including Chen Wei, Liu Shiyuan, and Pixy Liao. As its title suggests, this show will be framed via the psychologically charged sci-fi writings of J.G. Ballard, an appropriate choice given that one of his best-known novels involves condo inhabitants turning into bloodthirsty maniacs.
When: Opens Thursday, June 29, noon–8pm; continues through Friday, July 28
Where: Venues throughout Manhattan (map here)
More info here.
