WhiteBox is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

art space An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues for ...

located in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It hosts contemporary

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

and special events including readings, lectures and panel discussions.

History

The organization was founded by Juan Puntes as an alternative art space for innovative, experimental and thought-provoking contemporary art. It was founded in Philadelphia in 1997, before relocating to Chelsea,

in 1998. In the years 1998 and 1999, Whitebox was nominated for “Best Group Show” by the International Art Critics Association for "Plural Speech" and for a survey of Viennese Actionists, Hermann Nitsch and

Günter Brus Günter Brus (born 27 September 1938, Ardning, Styria, Austria) is an Austrian painter, performance artist, graphic artist, experimental filmmaker and writer. Brus grew up in Mureck, attended the Kunstgewerbeschule Graz and went to Vienna in 195 ...

. Later exhibitions included artists

Carolee Schneemann Carolee Schneemann (October 12, 1939 – March 6, 2019) was an American visual experimental artist, known for her multi-media works on the body, narrative, sexuality and gender. She received a B.A. in poetry and philosophy from Bard College and ...

, Michael Snow, Dennins Oppenheim,

Braco Dimitrijevic Braco may refer to: Places * Braco, Perth and Kinross, a village in Scotland * Braco Airfield, an airstrip in Jamaica People * Braco (faith healer) (born 1967), self-styled healer from Croatia * Baron Braco, a title in the Peerage of Ireland ...

, Naoto Nagakawa, Alison Knowles,

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

and

Aldo Tambellini Aldo Tambellini (29 April 1930 – 12 November 2020) was an Italian-American artist. He pioneered electronic intermedia, and was a painter, sculptor, and poet. He died at age 90, in November 2020. Childhood Aldo Tambellini was born in Syracus ...

. In 2008 WhiteBox decided to leave Chelsea to move to the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

, where a few galleries were just starting to settle following the opening of the New Museum in the same neighborhood. In 2018 Mr. Puntes decided to move WhiteBox again and reopen it in

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

, one of the largest predominantly

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

communities in New York City. Puntes was particularly interested in collaborating with immigrant and minority communities, especially Latin Americans. In addition Mr. Puntes was joined by curator Kyoko Sato who helped create an Asian art program In January 2022 WhiteBox moved to its current location in the Lower East Side, Manhattan. With

Raul Zamudio Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...

as a curator, WhiteBox presented a series of socio-political commentary shows that involved local and international artists.

Mission

Whitebox works to present exhibitions that include the visual arts, experimental media, sound, poetry and video. It is committed to serving as an alternative space in which the general public and artistic community can explore, learn and engage with new ideas.

Events

In 2019, settled into its East Harlem location, White Box-Harlem presented the first mayor survey of Japanese experimental filmmaker

Ko Nakajima is a Japanese video artist, photographer, and inventor based in Tokyo. His photographs of conceptual artist Yutaka Matsuzawa are a key resource for understanding Matsuzawa's practice. Video Earth, the collective Nakajima founded with his stude ...

in New York. Multiple screenings by the artist from the ‘60s to the ‘80s were shown. The exhibition received financial support from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. In October 2021 an exhibition devoted to sound and multimedia art titled "White Noise" was presented. The show included a diverse group of international artists working on musical performance, video projection, poetry, installation and a live reading and screening of a graphic novel by indie-rocker and social critic,

Jeffrey Lewis Jeffrey Lewis (born November 20, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and comic book artist. Early life Lewis was born in New York City and grew up on the Lower East Side. He attended State University of New York at Purchase, graduating in ...

. Participating artists included Eva Petrič, V. Matt Sullivan and Beatrice A. Martino. In November 2021 an international group exhibition titled "Perfect Day: Drugs and Art" was presented. It was curated by Raul Zamudio and Juan Puntes. Participating artists included Abdul Vas, Antonio Caro, Chin Chih Yang,

Bradley Eros Bradley Eros (born in 1952 in Fairfield, Illinois) is an experimental film director, actor, curator, poet, and performance artist who also makes Musique concrète sound collages, music videos, photographs, live projection performances, works on pa ...

, Jason Mena,

Javier Téllez Javier Téllez is a Venezuelan artist, living and working in New York City. Early life Javier Téllez was born in 1969 in Valencia, Venezuela. Both his mother and father were psychiatrists, thus exposing Téllez to ideas and concepts about m ...

, Julia Justo, Julia San Martin, Lorin Roser,

Max Blagg Max Blagg is a British-born poet, writer, and performer from England. Blagg has performed in New York City since 1971. He is currently a visiting lecturer in poetry at The New School in New York City (continuous from 2005). Life Max Blagg was ...

, Nina Kuo and Tamiko Kawata among others

References

External links

* 1998 establishments in New York City Art galleries established in 1998 {{NewYork-struct-stub Contemporary art galleries in the United States