#tanager gallery

[newyorkthegoldenage]

The Tanager Gallery on 10th Street, 1959. Lois Dodd is in the window.

Photo: John Cohen via the Jewish Museum

[ucaliptus]

Inventing Downtown:Artist-Run Galleries in New York City, 1952–1965 - Grey Gallery

Between the apex of Abstract Expressionism and the rise of Pop Art and Minimalism, the New York art scene was transformed by artist-run galleries. Inventing Downtown presents works from fourteen of these crucibles of experimentation, highlighting artists’ efforts to create new exhibition venues for innovative works of art—ranging from abstract and figurative painting, assemblage, sculpture, …

The NYU Grey Art Gallery’s current exhibition, “Inventing Downtown,” explores the cultural rising of artist-run galleries in NYC through selected works from artists in that movement. One artist, Louise Bourgeois, had work featured from the Tanager Gallery, from the “Leaving Midtown” thematic group.

Louise Bourgeois was born in Paris in the early 1900s. She became drawn to art by her parents, who ran a tapestry restoration business. She moved to New York in 1938 after marrying Robert Goldwater. While her early work focused more on painting and printmaking, she turned to sculpture in the late 1940s. She also became very interested in psychoanalysis, which influenced the subject matter of her work. Her monumental spider sculptures are some of her best known works.

Also from the Tanager Gallery is artist Lois Dodd. She was the only woman founder of the gallery, but also had her work exhibited there. She was born in New Jersey in the late 20s, and was educated at Cooper Union. She is described as a “serious painter,” best known for her beautiful and contemplative landscapes and interiors around her New England homes. She paints “plein air,” meaning her paintings are done all outside, from observation; it is a difficult strategy due to the ever changing lighting and movement of the outdoors. Her work contrasted with the popular abstract expressionism of the time.

From the “City as Muse” grouping, we see work from Robert Rauschenberg, whose work was featured at the Reuben Gallery. This gallery was not under the co-op model. Though he was born in Texas, Robert lived and worked primarily in New York City and in Florida. He was a painter and graphic artist, whose early works anticipated the pop art movement. He often used non traditional materials and objects in his works, employed in innovative ways. His well known “Combines” are a sort of combination of painting and sculpture, and somewhat like a collage. He went on to receive several rewards for his artistry during his life.