Exhibitions at ABC No Rio
NOTE: We've closed our gallery as we prepare for demolition and the construction of our new facility. ABC No Rio exhibitions will continue "in exile" at other venues and in collaboration with other organizations. Subscribe to our mailing list on our home page.
ABC No Rio was founded by visual artists committed to political and social engagement and we retain these values to the present. We are known internationally as a venue for oppositional culture.
ABC No Rio exhibitions emphasize collective efforts and group shows based on theme; we often embrace work with strong social and political content. Our goal is to present interesting, vital, and exciting exhibitions and to provide a forum for artists to show their work in a spirit of mutual support and camaraderie. Artists frequently create new work for exhibitions at ABC No Rio.
We feature four or six exhibitions each year. Some recent exemplary exhibitions: Gaming the System presented work that played with ideas of dissimulation, manipulation, scams, cons and ruses, and included new work, re-presentations of past projects and documentation of past interventions; in Toothsome nine artists explored the seductive qualities, loaded history and metaphorical possibilities of sugar, honey and candy, addressing housing insecurity, consumption, and the industrial food complex; and for It's About You and Me four women artists who utilize their bodies as material and theme presented work examining social structures, mechanisms of representation, and the interconnections between identity and self.
Check the calendar for information on current and upcoming exhibitions.
ABC No Rio operates on the principle of DIY or do-it-yourself. We believe that artists must take responsibility for making things happen at the grass-roots level in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual support, and without seeking the validation of the dominant culture. DIY is a means to stand against the control exercised by huge institutions and business interests. We hope to nurture a scene created by and for artists in which the praise that matters most is the praise awarded by one's peers.
We are open to proposals by artists and artist/curators for group shows which are of high artistic quality and which are consistent with our values and mission.
Proposals are accepted and reviewed on an on-going basis by ABC No Rio's Visual Arts Committee. Modest amounts of funding are available for exhibition expenses. In keeping with the principle of DIY, artists and curators are expected to organize, mount, maintain, and promote their exhibitions. ABC No Rio volunteers act as facilitators and may be available to lend a hand. Please be aware that ABC No Rio is a multi-use facility. The gallery is also used for meetings, performances, and other events. At times work may need to be temporarily removed for safekeeping.
Proposals for exhibitions should address the following, in order, in no more than two pages:
1) describe the proposed exhibition and its purpose;
2) explain how participating artists will be solicited and selected;
3) tell us about yourself, your background, your interests,
4) and why you are proposing your exhibition to ABC No Rio.
Please do not attach support materials at this time. Support materials will be requested if necessary.
ABC No Rio exhibitions are funded in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.
