New York City in the 1950’s was a pretty remarkable place. After WWII the city was a relative shell comprised of dilapidated buildings and neglected neighborhoods, with most people opting to live in the suburbs far away from the potential military target. Living and working amongst the derelict buildings was a group of young pioneer artists, bursting with intellect and creativity, yet struggling to have a voice in the art world.
In 1951, art dealer Leo Castelli and a group of these young New York City artists joined forces to create the infamous 9
Th St Show, a self-funded exhibition that in many ways changed the course of art history forever. Europe was losing its edge and what was relevant, current and exciting was happening in America’s own back yard, despite being overlooked by the local art scene. At that time, there was only a small number of galleries in Manhattan, all were clustered around 57
th street and all dealed primarily in European art.
The collective rented an abandoned antique store at 60, East 9
th Street for $40 and together put on a ground-breaking exhibition that ‘appropriated a visibility that American Society had denied them for so long’. The Abstract Expressionist Movement burst onto the scene and caught the attention of not only critics but the culture at large. These artists ultimately became some of the most celebrated and valued of all time.
One of the youngest exhibitors in the 9
th Street show was TW Fine Art’s Michael Goldberg. At that time Michael Goldberg had changed his name to Michael Stuart to avoid the association with his aristocratic family and his father. Goldberg told stories of taxis lining up down the street with crowds of people amassing outside the space on opening night. The New York Times labeled it an ‘uncommon exhibit of the New York avant-garde spectacularly coming together’.
Over the next 50 years the focus of the art world would shift from Europe to America and today there are over 1500 galleries in Manhattan alone. People have returned to the city. The end of the Cold War boosted people’s confidence in the safety of the metropolis and slowly but surely people began to gentrify the forgotten neighborhoods to create the New York City of today.
It’s unheard of for artists to be able to rent an exhibition space for $40 anymore – the thought makes today’s artists green with envy! The creative community that existed in those days is now geographically dispersed since Manhattan is for the most part unaffordable for the young avant-garde - the artist interested in the art and not the sale. Goldberg used to loathe walking through Chelsea (the modern art hub) “I fucking hate Chelsea, the content of the work is money no matter what it masquerades as”. In many ways, what he said is true – Mike was about art, not the money that came from today’s art celebrity culture. “I consider myself an old-fashioned modernist in that I think painting can change the world. And the desperation is about the fact that I know it can’t.”
Our own artist collective now lives all across the world although our roots are in New York City, where we all gathered as students, mentors and young artists. The Internet serves as our club and although separated by geographical distance, our bonds are strong and our art has been globalized in a manner that in many ways may now represent the future trajectory of the art world.
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