From our newsletter archives — Originally published June 13th, 2023
Opening an art gallery in the 1980s was easy. Rents were low and there was no shortage of talented artists looking for places to show. In hindsight, it’s surprising to see how many now historic exhibitions were held in small, raw spaces run by neophyte dealers on a shoestring budget. The art world was ready for new things. All it took was ambition and a sure eye.
Gallery 98 spotlights four 1980s galleries with exceptional exhibition records. Of the four, 303 Gallery, which recently celebrated its 35th anniversary, is the only one to have survived the decade. The history of these groundbreaking galleries can be tracked through the art ephemera they produced for each of their exhibitions.
Fun Gallery
Keith Haring, Fun Gallery, card, 1983
Card Size: 5.5 x 8.5 inches
Keith Haring, Fun Gallery, poster, 1983
Poster size: 23 x 29 inches
Available for Purchase
The Fun Gallery, started in 1981 by Patti Astor and Bill Stelling, led the way in the rise of the East Village as an art-gallery neighborhood. The gallery was unique because of its roster of artists that Astor met when she acted in the hip-hop film Wildstyle. At a time when graffiti-based art was not yet taken seriously, the Fun Gallery showed Lee, Futura, Dondi, Fred Brathwaite, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, insisting that each stood on his own as an individual artist.
Semaphore
Walter Robinson and Duncan Hannah, Semaphore Gallery, card, 1984
Card Size: 4 x 6 inches
Available for Purchase
Robert Colescott, The Collector (Tea for Two), Semaphore Gallery, card, 1980
Card size: 4.5 x 6 inches
When Barry Blinderman opened Semaphore in Soho in 1980 the art world was still dominated by a few big galleries with established artists. During a seven year run, Semaphore, and its East Village satellite Semaphore East (1984), proved the viability of its group of mostly young, untested artists by holding exhibitions of the work of Martin Wong, Lady Pink, Robert Colescott, Duncan Hannah, Mark Kostabi, Jane Dickson, Walter Robinson, and many others.
303 Gallery
David Lachapelle, Angels, Saints & Martyrs, 303 Gallery, card and press release, 1984
Card size: 4.25 x 6 inches
Richard Prince & David Robbins, 303 Gallery, card, 1985
Card size: 3 x 6 inches
Available for Purchase
303 was named after its address on Park Avenue South, where rents were still cheap in 1984, and owner Lisa Spellman was able for a time to live in the back of the gallery. Artists like Richard Prince, Christopher Wool, and Robert Gober showed at the gallery before moving on to more prestigious venues. But unlike the other galleries included here, 303 Gallery survived, no doubt due to Spellman’s ongoing skill at discovering new talent like Sue Williams and Doug Aitken, who all joined 303 in the 90s.
International With Monument
Sarah Charlesworth, International With Monument, card, 1986
Card size: 3.5 x 5.75 inches
Ashley Bickerton, International With Monument Gallery, card, c. 1987
Card size: 4 x 5.75 inches
Available for Purchase
When International With Monument opened in the East Village in 1984 its clean neo-conceptual aesthetic stood in stark contrast to the painterly expressionism on display in most of the other galleries in the neighborhood. Founders Kent Klamen, Meyer Vaisman, and Elizabeth Koury quickly attracted the attention of the mainstream art world with exhibitions by Jeff Koons, Laurie Simmons, Sarah Charlesworth, and Peter Halley; all of whom were quickly picked up by larger galleries.
