Exterior of ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington Street; Dog stencils on the front window by Anton Van Dalen, Photo by Anton Van Dalen, 1980. From the online version of ABC No Rio Dinero: The Story of a Lower East Side Art Gallery.
Gallery 98 has always had a special connection to the East Village — with the artist group COLAB, and especially, the alternative art space ABC No Rio. In 1985, Gallery 98’s Marc H. Miller collaborated with Alan W. Moore on the book ABC No Rio Dinero: The Story of a Lower East Side Art Gallery. More recently, when in 2012 Miller was creating a digitized online version of the No Rio book, he became more aware of the historic importance of ephemera, and the potential of creating an online gallery devoted entirely to gallery cards, posters, flyers and publications.
No one would have imagined that ABC No Rio would survive, but against all odds it has persisted now for close to forty years, and just last month celebrated the groundbreaking for an entirely new building scheduled for completion by early 2026. The credit for the gallery’s longevity goes to Steven Englander, No Rio’s director since the 1990s.
Gallery 98 has always been particularly strong in 1970’s and 80’s art ephemera from downtown NYC. Featured below are items from ABC No Rio’s first five years. This was the time when the gallery was affiliated with the artist group COLAB, and was central to an evolving art world that put a premium on art connected to social and political issues. You will find much more on the ABC No Rio page at Gallery 98.
COLAB Mounts an Illegal Exhibition on New Year’s Eve: The Real Estate Show, 1980
View of the front entrance to the Real Estate Show, photo by Ann Messner, 1980; this photo enlargement was created for the exhibition “The Real Estate Show Was Then: 1980,” James Fuentes gallery, 2014.
Photo: 18 x 26 inches
Available for Purchase
Robin Winters, “Landlords Do Not Supply Adequate Services and Maintenance,” xerox poster/flyer exhibited at the Real Estate Show, 1980; This small poster was created by Winters, who enlarged with distortions a small hand-lettered sign that he found posted in the neighborhood.
Xerox poster/flyer: 8.5 x 11 inches
Available for Purchase
It took the city only a few days to shut down an exhibition about real-estate abuses mounted illegally by the artist group COLAB after breaking into a vacant city-owned building. Since at the time the Lower East Side was littered with abandoned buildings, the city was willing to compromise, and offered the artists use of a nearby building on Rivington Street. This became the home of ABC No Rio.
The Founding of ABC No Rio at 156 Rivington Street
Raymond and Manny Acosta in front of ABC No Rio, Photo by Bobby G, card c. 1980; front image from the folded card for the exhibition “ABC No Rio: The First Five Years,” City Gallery, Department of Cultural Affairs, 1985
Folded card: 4.5 x 6 inches
Available for Purchase
Xerox flyer: 8.5 x 11 inches
Available for Purchase
At first, No Rio only had use of the first floor and the basement of a dilapidated, partially-occupied building. The Acosta family occupied one apartment, while squatters and drug addicts used the other floors of the building. The artists’ agreement with the city was supposed to be temporary, but No Rio held on, eventually taking over the entire building and acquiring legal ownership of the property.
Some Early Exhibitions at ABC No Rio
Bobby G (Robert Goldman), Absurdities, large poster created by attaching together four b&w xerox prints, 1981; Bobby G added the gouache paint in 2014. Some of the artists featured in the Absurdities exhibition were Tom Otterness, Kiki Smith, Robin Winters, Richard Mock, Richard Bosman, Scott Pfaffman, and Judy Rifka.
Hand-colored Poster: 16.5 x 23 inches
Available for Purchase
Tom Warren, ABC No Rio, “Portrait Studio: No Rio Locals, 1981,” signed digital print, 2016. Tom Warren’s exhibition “Photo Studio” offered local residents professional photographs for the bargain price of just one dollar. Many show neighborhood children in their halloween costumes.
Photo Montage: 16 x 20 inches
Available for Purchase
In its early years No Rio specialized in theme exhibitions. Topics were selected democratically at meetings and the exhibitions were mostly open to anyone that wanted to participate. Some of the exhibitions were deliberately designed to appeal to the residents of the largely Hispanic neighborhood.
Poetry Readings and Other Events
John Spencer (coordinator), two-fold card with schedule for “Reading/s” at ABC No Rio, 1980’s
Two-fold Card: 4.5 x 14 inches
Available for Purchase
In addition to exhibitions, ABC No Rio had a full schedule of poetry readings and other one-night performance events. This series included the Hispanic poets Bimbo Rivas, Miguel Pinero and Miguel Algarin, the politicized Amiri Baraka, as well as, art-scene favorites Kathy Acker, Richard Hell, and Keith Haring. In later years No Rio became famous as a prime venue for hardcore, punk music performances.
Neighborhood Mural Projects
Bobby G (Robert Goldman), viewing of The Wall, A mural on Suffolk and Delancey followed by a party at ABC No Rio, card, 1984. Bobby G’s large mural featured portraits of young kids from the neighborhood.
Card (two invitations on an uncut sheet of card stock): 8.5 x 11 inches
Available for Purchase
John Fekner and Johnny “Crash” Matos, Fallout Shelter Mural on Suffolk Street, 1981, Photo by Jack Fekner. John Fekner and Johnny “Crash” Matos are two artists usually associated with Fashion Moda in the South Bronx, which like No Rio, was a COLAB affiliated space.
No Rio artists often worked outside the gallery space, sometimes creating murals, as well as, on one occasion, sponsoring an entire exhibition on the nearby Williamsburg Bridge.
Two Variations of Kiki Smith’s ABC No Rio The Island of Negative Utopia
Kiki Smith, The Kitchen Presents The Island of Negative Utopia, ABC No Rio, poster, stenciled and screen printed on paper, 1983; By 1983 No Rio had become such a hotbed of creativity that the Kitchen, a gallery and performance space in Soho, spotlighted ABC No Rio in a special multimedia exhibition.
Poster: 17.5 x 22.5 inches
Available for Purchase
Kiki Smith, “ABC No Rio The Island of Negative Utopia,” silkscreened on cloth, signed numbered and dated, #51 from an edition of 70, 1984; Smith created this variation of her Kitchen poster as a limited edition print to help raise money for the printing of the 1985 book ABC No Rio Dinero: The Story of a Lower East Side Art Gallery.
Silkscreen poster on cloth: 20 x 26 inches
Available for Purchase
The phrase “the Island of Negative Utopia” was the creation of Joseph Nechvatal.
