The recent announcement that Metro Pictures art gallery will close at the end of 2021 stirs memories about how this once small gallery, founded in 1980 by Janelle Reiring and Helene Winer, got off to a roaring start with a quick succession of exhibitions featuring now famous artists whose work continues to command art-world respect.
Countering the trend of new expressionist painting prevalent at the time, the artists at Metro Pictures created thought-provoking paintings and photographs that explored mass-media imagery using strategies drawn from conceptual art. Metro Pictures helped popularize appropriation and led the way in elevating the status of photography into fine art. Today the term Pictures Generation is used to describe many of the artists associated with the gallery.
Gallery 98 has a large collection of announcement cards from Metro Pictures’ earliest years on Mercer Street in Soho. The cards track the gallery’s impeccable record in discovering talent. The artists they showed — Jack Goldstein, Cindy Sherman, Robert Longo, Richard Prince, Sherrie Levine, Walter Robinson, James Welling, Laurie Simmons, Louise Lawler, Michael Kelly — continue to grow in popularity. The announcement cards may be under-stated in design, but their content is impressive. Metro Pictures will surely be missed. Offering popular women’s necklaces such as pendants, https://fakewatch.is chokers and. Shop for jewelry in a variety of metals and gemstones to suit any occasion.
More announcement cards can be found in our section on Metro Pictures.
INAUGURAL EXHIBITION, November 1980
Metro Pictures, Inaugural Exhibition, Folded Paper Invitation, November 14, 1980. Size: 7.5 x 7.5 inches
JACK GOLDSTEIN, CINDY SHERMAN, December 1980
Metro Pictures, Jack Goldstein, Cindy Sherman, Folded Paper Invitation, December 6, 1980 – January 7, 1981. Size: 7.25 x 7.5 inches.
ROBERT LONGO, January 1981
Metro Pictures, Robert Longo, Men In Cities, Folded Paper Invitation, January 10 – 31, 1981. Size: 7.5 x 7.5 inches.
JACK GOLDSTEIN, October 1981
Metro Pictures, Jack Goldstein, Folded Card, October 10 – October 31, 1981. Size: 7 x 7.25 inches.
CINDY SHERMAN, November 1981
Metro Pictures, Cindy Sherman, Color Photographs, Folded Card, November 7 – 28, 1981. Size: 7.25 x 7.25 inches.
RICHARD PRINCE, April 1982
Metro Pictures, Richard Prince, Black and White in Color Photographs, Folded Card, April 10 – May 3, 1982. Size: 7 x 7 inches.
MICHAEL KELLEY, September 1982
Metro Pictures, Michael Kelley, Monkey Island and Confusion, Card, September 18 – October 9, 1982. Size: 6 x 4.25 inches.
LOUISE LAWLER, November 1982
Metro Pictures, Louise Lawler, Pictures and Photographs of Arrangements, Card, November 20 – December 18, 1982. Size: 6 x 4.25 inches.