Mission:
Founded in 1982, Exit Art is an interdisciplinary cultural center that presents innovative exhibitions, films and performances that reflect a commitment to contemporary issues and ideas. We support emerging, under-recognized, mid-career and international artists, emphasizing new and experimental forms of expression. We are interested in art that explores environmental, political and cultural issues as a means of initiating or instigating social change. The diversity of Exit Art’s programs reflect the multiplicity of our audience, which includes artists, activists, scholars, scientists, students, cultural critics, educators, collectors, and the New York community at large.
History:
During our first decade, Exit Art presented artists whose work challenged notions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and equality. We mounted a series of mid-career retrospectives which helped to bring wider public attention and critical acclaim to artists who are now firmly established, including Jimmie Durham, Willie Birch, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Tehching Hsieh, Martin Wong, Adrian Piper, David Wojnarowicz and David Hammons.
In our second decade, we identified a new generation of young, emerging artists with diverse backgrounds and organized a series of exhibitions, launching the careers of artists such as Shirin Neshat, Fred Tomaselli, Nicole Eisenman, Roxy Paine, Patty Chang, Julie Mehretu, Sue DeBeer, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Chakaia Booker. Fever (1992), the first exhibition in the series, was named one of the ten most important shows of the decade by Peter Plagens in Newsweek.
Now Exit Art is a leading voice in experimental art, producing exhibitions that illuminate the pressing issues of our time while supporting artists whose works reflect the transformations of our culture. By 2012, our 30th year, Exit Art will have organized over 200 exhibitions, events, festivals and programs featuring more than 2,500 artists.
Founded in 1982, Exit Art is an interdisciplinary cultural center that presents innovative exhibitions, films and performances that reflect a commitment to contemporary issues and ideas. We support emerging, under-recognized, mid-career and international artists, emphasizing new and experimental forms of expression. We are interested in art that explores environmental, political and cultural issues as a means of initiating or instigating social change. The diversity of Exit Art’s programs reflect the multiplicity of our audience, which includes artists, activists, scholars, scientists, students, cultural critics, educators, collectors, and the New York community at large.
History:
During our first decade, Exit Art presented artists whose work challenged notions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and equality. We mounted a series of mid-career retrospectives which helped to bring wider public attention and critical acclaim to artists who are now firmly established, including Jimmie Durham, Willie Birch, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Tehching Hsieh, Martin Wong, Adrian Piper, David Wojnarowicz and David Hammons.
In our second decade, we identified a new generation of young, emerging artists with diverse backgrounds and organized a series of exhibitions, launching the careers of artists such as Shirin Neshat, Fred Tomaselli, Nicole Eisenman, Roxy Paine, Patty Chang, Julie Mehretu, Sue DeBeer, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Chakaia Booker. Fever (1992), the first exhibition in the series, was named one of the ten most important shows of the decade by Peter Plagens in Newsweek.
Now Exit Art is a leading voice in experimental art, producing exhibitions that illuminate the pressing issues of our time while supporting artists whose works reflect the transformations of our culture. By 2012, our 30th year, Exit Art will have organized over 200 exhibitions, events, festivals and programs featuring more than 2,500 artists.
