By Christopher Stout

Now on view at Equity Gallery is the 2022 annual New York Artists Equity Members Invitational Exhibition. Equity Gallery is the physical exhibition space of the New York Artists Equity Association (NYAE).

To quote from the exhibition prospectus, “Artists Equity was founded in 1947 by over 160 prominent American artists, including art world luminaries such as Jacob Lawrence, Louise Nevelson, and Edward Hopper, and continues to be an influential and guiding organization for artists today. The organization is composed of a diverse community of artists, patrons, and allied professionals who view themselves as cultural stewards, charged with advancing the professional aspirations of emerging practitioners.”

As further evidence of the abiding impact of these founding artist partners, there are currently 16 artists (many with multiple works) hanging in the 6th floor galleries of the Whitney Museum of American Art, in forming the exhibition, The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (June 28, 2019 – ). Equity founding members in this exhibition include Thomas Hart Benton, Charles Burchfield, Paul Cadmus, Willem de Kooning, Marsden Hartley, Rockwell Kent, Jacob Lawrence, Roy Lichtenstein, Louise Nevelson, I. Rice Pereira, Charles Sheeler, George Tooker, Yasuo Kuniyoshi (Equity’s first President), and Andrew Wyeth.

Image: Paintings by Equity Gallery Founding Artists, which are on view at the Whitney Museum of Art in, The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965, (Jun 28, 2019 – ). Images courtesy of the Whitney Museum of Art.

Image: Paintings and sculptures by Equity Gallery Founding Artists, which are on view at the Whitney Museum of Art in, The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965, (Jun 28, 2019 – ) Images courtesy of the Whitney Museum of Art.

In addition to the New York Artists Equity Association’s robust artist development program, which includes artist crit sessions, artist talks, and workshops, the gallery exhibition program is a continued and stalwart advancement of the nonprofit’s mission, “to promote opportunities for artists and address economic issues affecting American artists.”

This year’s Members Invitation was juried by “a panel of accomplished artists and arts professionals, including director/chief curator of the West Harlem Art Fund Savona Bailey-McClain, artist and (our founding) publisher of Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art Noah Becker, and visual artist, educator, and independent curator Melissa Staiger.

In parallel with the founding membership, the works and artists selected for the current exhibition convey a divergence of practice, materiality, and intellectual pursuits.

The juried artists of the 2022 New York Artists Equity Members Invitational exhibition are Amy Bassin, Carol Diamond, Patricia Fabricant, Linda King Ferguson, Susan Hensel, Steven Anthony Johnson II, Toshiko Kitano Groner, Lisa Lebofsky, Carla Lobmier, Christina Massey, Kellyann Monaghan, Susan Reedy, Deborah Sherman, Susan Stillman, Christopher Stout, Sue Strande, Ellen Weider, and Siyan Wong. Image courtesy of the artists and Equity Gallery.

Image: An image diptych showing installation views of the juried New York Artists Equity Members Invitational. The work (left to right) is by member artists Christopher Stout, Lisa Lebofsky, Carla Lobmier, Susan Reedy, and Linda King Ferguson. Images courtesy of Equity Gallery.

The New York Artists Equity Members Invitational is on view until February 19, 2022. Equity Gallery is at 245 Broome Street (Ground Floor) in the Lower East Side. Equity Gallery hours are Wednesday to Saturday, Noon – 6pm. A photography solo, Christopher Calkins: No Password Needed, opens at the gallery Wednesday, March 09.

To learn more about the New York Artists Equity Association’s artist development programs and/or learn about artist membership opportunities, please visit NYAE’s website and social profiles.

Website: https://www.nyartistsequity.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/equitygallery/