Exhibition is an assemblage of mechanisms that operate in an independent, not for profit art
initiative located in a vacant storefront at 211 Elizabeth Street in New York.
Exhibition offers an experimental and contradictory artistic and curatorial approach. One
continuous single exhibition will be shown during the six months of the project. The artworks
exhibited will be produced by a succession of artists intervening in the space and/or upon
others’ artworks.
The artist’s order of intervention is ruled by a drawing from a hat of artist names previously
suggested by the organization team and the space assigned to him or her is dictated
by three rolls of a single die. An ‘Initiation Ritual’ convened by the exhibition organizers
on-site sets the conditions of participation in the project, which includes renouncing any
ownership of the art work produced. The works are not for sale in any form and they can be
appropriated, transformed and deleted by subsequent artists.
The exhibition context is created then by the intervening condition of the continually
accumulating, massing, heaping, cleansing, subtraction, and constriction. An archive area is
designated in the space for documenting purposes.
Exhibition was initiated by Elena Bajo, Eric Anglès, Jakob Schillinger, Nathalie Anglès and
Warren Neidich.
EXHIBITION
211 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10013
Wednesday - Sunday 12 - 6
www.exhibition211.net
For more information about Elena Bajo’s artist project about Exhibition:
exhibition211.blogspot.com
Exhibition is an art initiative located for six months in a empty commercial space at 211
Elizabeth Street.
Exhibition is located in an elegant 7 story red brick building on the corner of Elizabeth and
Prince streets. Remaining faithful to the the various interests producing the project, a group
of friends designed Exhibition to interact with its surroundings. This deft contextualism is
achieved with multiple flourishes including a set of rules determining the parameters of each
artist’s intervention. “What makes Exhibition unique and of interest to the general public are
the rules of curatorial and artistic engagement that it fosters,” explains one of the founders.
“In a moment of economic uncertainty in which the monetary value of art as commodity
is under stress, art as information, content, and research all of a sudden is once again of
importance.”
Exhibition embraces the vernacular of its historic New York neighborhood—and stands out
for its contradictory artistic and curatorial approach. This is one continuous single exhibition
made from subsequent artist interventions, in one of New York’s last remaining authentic
neighborhoods.
Nolita is among New York’s few remaining authentic neighborhoods. With its European flare
and combination of high end retailers, living adjacent to local bodegas and bookstores, Nolita
has become firmly established as New York City’s most desirable neighborhood.
The area is dotted with chic and down to earth restaurants, from the famous Café Habana
and Café Gitane, to Public and The Tasting Room. With the addition of the New Museum
on the Bowery and Whole Foods on Houston, the urban amenities get more exciting all the
time…
Exhibition is a temporary, independent, not-for-profit art initiative located in a vacant
storefront at 211 Elizabeth Street in New York.
Exhibition offers an experimental and contradictory artistic and curatorial approach. Only
a continuous single exhibition will be shown during this six month project. The artwork
exhibited will be produced by a chain of consecutive artist interventions in the space and/or
on the artwork. The work space assigned to the artist is ruled by a roll of dice and the artist’s
order of intervention is ruled by drawing names from a hat. The artist agrees to an ‘Initiation
Ritual’ in person and on-site that sets the conditions for participating in the project. These
include renouncing any ownership of the art work produced, establishing that the art work is
not for sale in any form, and allowing that the art work can be appropriated, transformed and
deleted by subsequent artists.
The exhibition context is therefore created by the intervening condition: a continuous
accumulating, massing, heaping, cleansing, subtracting, and constricting. An archive area is
designated in the space for documenting purposes.
Exhibition was initiated by Elena Bajo, Eric Anglès, Jakob Schillinger, Nathalie Anglès and
Warren Neidich.
EXHIBITION
211 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10013
Wednesday - Sunday 12 - 6
For more information about Elena Bajo’s artist project about Exhibition:
exhibition211@elenabajo.com
exhibition211.blogspot.com
One possible way of understanding EXHIBITION is as an artist project, whose intention it is
to challenge traditional notions of artistic and curatorial authorship by setting up a “different”
type of experience for artists and viewers alike. How does it work? EXHIBITION is not set
up as a series of programmed exhibits but functions as a continuous spatial and temporal
unit over a period of 6 months. Invited artists are asked to engage directly with the concrete
situation of the space as they find it. Structurally, every artistic gesture is determined by a
set of agreed-upon parameters: for instance, interventions occur only in areas randomly
assigned by a throw of dice. It is understood by all participants that their intervention
invariably carries the potential of its own demise. And perhaps even more significant than
the material results generated is the continuous flow of immaterial conversation between
contributors and visitors.
Exhibition was initiated by Elena Bajo, Eric Anglès, Jakob Schillinger, Nathalie Anglès and
Warren Neidich.
EXHIBITION
211 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10013
Wednesday - Sunday 12 - 6
www.exhibition211.net
1. The site is a storefront lent by a luxury condominium development at 211 Elizabeth Street.
2. The site is open from March to August 2009, Wednesday to Sunday, 12 to 6.
3. The site hosts a single unfolding exhibition.
1. The work is not for sale and belongs to no one.
2. The work is an intervention upon interventions.
3. The work can be modified, parasitized and destroyed.
1. The artist is drawn from a hat.
2. The artist works in areas determined by a roll of dice.
3. The artist discusses these conditions in conversation and on-site.