Condo New York

A Collaborative exhibition in New York from June 29 – July 27, 2018

Over the last few years, gallery sharing has become a more common practice among galleries across the world. Brick and mortar galleries will either rent to or “host” another, trade places with or collaborate on an exhibition with a gallery from a location generally far from their own. There are even spaces whose program is exclusively dedicated to hosting galleries on a revolving basis, such as Vacation Gallery in New York City’s lower east side.

Condo New York - Anne Marie Taylor Art Education

Freshly Cut and Softly Bound, Lisa Kehler Art + Projects at Vacation NYC June 2018

Sharing in this way affords tremendous benefits to both the galleries participating and to the people who visit—first and foremost, exposure. These galleries can pool resources and collaborate in order to organize an exhibition in an offsite location where they might already have a growing audience, many collectors, or where many of the artists on their roster live and work. To view artwork in the context of an exhibition is a very different experience than in an art fair, which in my opinion, is one of the causes for many of these galleries to look for other options to exhibit work internationally. An art fair can be a great place for networking with other galleries, artists and collectors, to gain exposure, and to generate sales (which is in fact the primary function of an art fair). However, it’s also hugely expensive to apply for and lacks the rewards of creativity in building a cohesive exhibition with their roster of artists. In regards to the viewing opportunities for visitors, it offers a chance to see work by artists from around the world, but only if you already know who you’re looking for. Fifty plus participating galleries, rows of cubicles and crowded hallways—it’s difficult to connect with art in these conditions, which often lacks context and can become overstimulating.

The gallery share model can provide a similar kind of exposure that you can tap into without overextending yourself and dealing with all the hoopla that is the Art Fair, especially when it’s coordinated with multiple spaces in one geographic location, like Condo. Condo is a large-scale collaborative exhibition that began in 2016 in London, and has since roamed to Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Shang Hai and New York. This year, forty-seven galleries will participate across twenty-one New York art spaces to bring you art from around the world.