FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Entertainment

Don't Stay Out of the Basement

67, a new exhibition space, opens its underground doors in New York City.
Giovana Olmos & Jojo Li. Images courtesy 67

Located beneath ground on Ludlow Street in the Lower East Side lies 67, a new art space founded by Kim Junsung, Maximiliano Siñani, and Selina Lin. The space, which opened last week with a group exhibition titled Expansion Foam 67, lies somewhere between traditional notions of what a gallery space is and what one would expect of a basement.

There is a splattering of white wall space adorned with works by artists Nandi Loaf and JoJo Li, but the rest of the space feels much more like an industrial cellar. This is one of the objectives of the founding team, says Siñani: "We wanted to explore a different direction to show ‘art’ per say. We are not a white cube… and that’s a good start.”

Advertisement

Aria Dean & Alex Velozo

Expansion Foam 67, the space’s first show, is an ongoing series of exhibitions that has had a previous iteration at Brooklyn’s C’mon Everybody. Devin Kenny, the individual behind these exhibitions, says that he often resists the title of curator because “the real ‘curation’ I’m doing is care for the work and it’s viewing. I’m not so much curating by way of having a concept that I’m attempting to illustrate through these works… it was more about creating a platform where the works could speak to people and for people to speak to one another.”

Despite the aversion to the label, Kenny states that he has worked hard to ensure the representation of People of Color, Women, Non-binary, and Trans-identified artists on this ongoing platform, in an effort to bridge the gap between the ever-growing community of these artists working online and the actual number of these artist represented in the art world.

Aria Dean 

Expansion Foam includes artists Nandi Loaf, JoJo Li, Aria Dean, Alex Velozo, Ana Maria Bezanilla, and Giovanna Olmos (who is a featured artist in Rhizome’s current online exhibition Brushes). The works encompass a variety of traditional and less-than-normal mediums, from colorful plaster cube sculptures to a 3D-printed sphere adorned with declarative statements floating inside of an industrial crate. They fill up the underground space with a mixed sense of human intervention spiked with loneliness. The exhibition definitely feels different than the standard experience in a white box.

Advertisement

Whether it’s due to the space, the works, or the combined effort of both—I’m not sure, but it’s certainly worth the visit.

Giovanna Olmos

Nandi Loaf , JoJo Li, Aria Dean & Alex Velozo

Ana Maria Bezanilla

Aria Dean & Alex Velozo

Ana Maria Bezanilla & Aria Dean

Expansion Foam 67 will be on display at 67 Ludlow Street until October 10th, available to be seen Thursdays to Saturday from 4 to 8 pm. A screening of works by artists Ivy Haldeman and Lea Cetera will be happening on October 2nd at a soon-to-be announced time.

Related:

Inside Matthew Barney’s Solid Gold Shit Show

Coming Soon: A Giant Art Labyrinth in the Netherlands

The Art of Being Feminist and Fabulous