Ann Tanksley, Retribution, 1973. Oil on canvas; 30 x 40 in. Courtesy of the artist. © Ann Tanksley. Photo: Stan Narten.

Loïs Mailou Jones, Vévé Voudou III, 1963. Oil on canvas; 37 × 45 3/4 in. Courtesy of Loïs Mailou Jones Pierre-Noël Trust, Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. © Loïs Mailou Jones Pierre-Noël Trust.

Exhibition flyer, Black Artists in the New York Scene. Courtesy of the Estate of Vivian Browne. Reproduced with permission of the artist; image courtesy The Adobe Krow Archives.

Nandi Guillaume, Opening of Black Artists in the New York Scene. The Daily World, September 10, 1974. Image courtesy of Tamiment Library & Wagner Labor Archives. © The Daily World.

Acts of Art in Greenwich Village
November 7, 2024 – March 22, 2025
Opening Reception: November 7, 6–8 pm

Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Gallery
Hunter West Building
132 East 68th Street
New York, NY 10065

The Hunter College Art Galleries are pleased to present Acts of Art in Greenwich Village, the first comprehensive account of the six-year history of Acts of Art, a gallery dedicated to showcasing the work of Black artists in downtown Manhattan.

Benny Andrews, James Denmark, Reginald Gammon, Harlan Jackson, Nigel Jackson, Ben Jones, Loïs Mailou Jones, Dindga McCannon, Enid Richardson Moore, Ademola Olugebefola, Ann Tanksley, Lloyd Toone, Frank Wimberley, Hale Woodruff

Founded by artists Nigel Jackson and Patricia Grey in 1969, Acts of Art was first located at 31 Bedford Street and later moved to 15 Charles Street in the West Village. In 1971, the gallery mounted  Rebuttal to the Whitney Museum Exhibition, the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition’s strategic response to the Whitney’s concurrent Contemporary Black Artists in America. That same year, the gallery hosted the inaugural exhibition of the Black women artists collective Where We At. Before Acts of Art closed in 1975, it presented one- and two-person exhibitions by twenty-six different artists, and numerous group exhibitions. Acts of Art in Greenwich Village centers Acts of Art and its director’s curatorial vision, tracing the gallery’s exhibition history as it intersects with other histories of Black art and artists in New York—and with formations like the BECC, Where We At, and the Weusi Artists. Installed in Hunter College’s Leubsdorf Gallery, the exhibition features artworks from the late 1960s and 1970s by fourteen artists with close ties to the gallery, a number of which were first shown at Acts of Art. 

Curated by Howard Singerman, Phyllis and Joseph Caroff Professor of Art History, with Katie Hood Morgan, Chief Curator and Deputy Director, and with MA and MFA students enrolled in the Advanced Curatorial Certificate Seminar. 

Curatorial fellows: Eve Arballo, Kelis George, and Nicolas Poblete. MA and MFA Students: Ansley Browning, Karewith Casas, Erin Chase, Brianna Golub, Yayun Deng, June Kitahara, Laura Luo, Sondra McGill, Chloe Ming, Mary Lisette Morris, Grace Sanabria.

Community Conversation with Artists

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Public Opening Reception
Thursday, November 7, 6-8pm
Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Gallery
Hunter West Building
132 East 68th Street
New York, NY 10065

Acts of Art Community Conversation
Saturday, November 9, 2-6:30pm
Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College
47-49 E 65th St, New York, NY 10065

PUBLICATION

The exhibition will be accompanied by a full-color catalog co-published with Hirmer Publishers and distributed in North America by the University of Chicago Press.  In addition to an introductory essay and complete exhibition history, the volume will include biographies of the gallery’s key artists and entries on important group exhibitions, events, and affiliated organizations. The publication is designed by Natalie Wedeking and edited by Howard Singerman with Re’al Christian and Katie Hood Morgan. Pre-order is available here.

This exhibition is made possible by the The Leonard A. Lauder Exhibition and Catalogue Fund. The exhibition's catalog has been supported by a grant from the Wolf Kahn Foundation and the Emily Mason and Alice Trumbull Mason Foundation on behalf of artists Emily Mason and Wolf Kahn.

ABOUT THE HUNTER COLLEGE ART GALLERIES

Part of the college’s Department of Art and Art History, the Hunter College Art Galleries have contributed to New York City’s vital cultural landscape since their inception over a quarter of a century ago. The galleries provide a space for critical engagement with art and pedagogy, bringing together historical scholarship, contemporary artistic practice, and experimental methodology. Located on Hunter’s main campus at 68th Street and Lexington Avenue, the Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Gallery presents research-driven historical exhibitions that provide new scholarship on important and often under-represented artists and art movements. The 205 Hudson Gallery on the department’s MFA Studio Art Campus in Tribeca is dedicated to presenting exhibitions and programming that engage issues critical to contemporary art and artists. In Spring semesters, the gallery also hosts a series of MFA thesis exhibitions. The Hunter East Harlem Gallery, located in the Silberman School of Social Work at 119th Street and 3rd Avenue, is dedicated to collaborative social practice and art and artists engaged with issues relevant to the East Harlem community and to the city more broadly.

For more information about exhibitions and public programs visit: huntercollegeartgalleries.org

PRESS INQUIRIES
E-mail Aleeq Kroshian, aleeq.kroshian@hunter.cuny.edu