Momenta Art was an artist-run, not-for-profit organization and gallery, which from its founding in 1986Fensterstock, Ann. Art on the Block : Tracking the New York Art World from Soho to the Bowery, Bushwick and Beyond. First edition. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. to its closing in 2016, exhibited and promoted emerging artists and underrepresented artistic perspectives. Artists who received support from Momenta Art include

Simone Leigh Simone Leigh (born 1967) is an American artist from Chicago who works in New York City in the United States. She works in various media including sculpture, installations, video, performance, and social practice. Leigh has described her work as au ...

Chitra Ganesh Chitra Ganesh (born 1975) is a visual artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Ganesh's work across media includes: charcoal drawings, digital collages, films, web projects, photographs, and wall murals. Ganesh draws from mythology, literature, and popu ...

, Elana Herzog and

Mark Tribe Mark Tribe (born 1966) is an American artist. He is the founder of Rhizome, a not-for-profit arts organization based in New York City. In 2013, he was appointed chair of the MFA program of the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Formerly, h ...

Origins

Momenta Art was founded in 1986 by a group of five artists in Philadelphia- Timothy Aubry, Donna Czapiga, Eric Heist, Christina LaSala, and James Mills. Their first exhibition, “The Cast Iron Building Presents Momenta Art”, was an inclusive group exhibition of 47 emerging artists working in Philadelphia exhibited in a raw industrial space on Arch Street in Old City loaned to the group by a real estate development company, Growth Properties. The organizers were criticized by established arts organization

Philadelphia Art Alliance The Philadelphia Art Alliance at University of the Arts is a multidisciplinary arts center located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. It is the oldest multidisciplinary arts center in the United States for visua ...

for exchanging artworks from the exhibition to be included in Growth Properties’ art collection. The popularity of the exhibition encouraged the founders to rent a five-story building, 309 North Third Street, also in Old City, which they pooled their money together to rent, renovate the ground floor into a gallery, and sublet the upper floors as studio space. Momenta Art operated at this space from 1986 to 1990, exhibiting the work of emerging artists. These included now-established artists

Jim Hodges James Hovis Hodges (born November 19, 1956) is an American businessman, attorney, and politician who served as the 114th governor of South Carolina from 1999 to 2003. Since his victory in 1998, Hodges has remained the only Democrat elected to ...

, Katy Schimert, and

Karen Kilimnik Karen Kilimnik (born 1955) is an American painter and installation artist. Life and work Karen traveled through much of the United States and Canada as a young child. She often spoke of Russell, Manitoba as being an inspiration for her later wo ...

. Momenta established itself as a non-profit organization at this time, and received some funding from the

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Its mission is to strengthen the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of Pennsylvania's communities through the arts. This mission is paired wit ...

and discretionary funding from Senator Vincent Fumo. However, the financial burden and time required to administer the organization led to the dissolution of Momenta in 1990.

New York City

Momenta cofounder, Eric Heist, relocated to

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 ...

where he attended

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

graduate school. He met

video artist Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. ...

Laura Parnes Laura Parnes is contemporary American artist who creates non-linear narratives that engage strategies of film and video art and blur the lines between storytelling conventions and experimentation. Her work is often episodic, references pop cultu ...

and together they began to organize exhibitions in New York. In 1992 the gallery community was moving out of SoHo to Chelsea, leaving many large loft spaces empty in SoHo, and available for temporary rentals. Artist Kenny Schachter was already organizing temporary exhibitions in SoHo at that time, inspiring Heist and Parnes, who found a 5,000-square-foot second floor space available in SoHo for $2,000. In order to raise funds for an exhibition they created hand-screened

manila envelope A manila folder (sometimes manila) is a file folder designed to contain documents, often within a filing cabinet. It is generally formed by folding a large sheet of stiff card in half. Though traditionally buff, sometimes other colors are used to ...

s containing multiple artworks by artists John Hatfield, Lucky De Bellevue, John Groh (Jed Brain), Marlene McCarty,

Janine Antoni Janine Antoni (born January 19, 1964) is a Bahamian–born American artist, who creates contemporary work in performance art, sculpture, and photography. Antoni's work focuses on process and the transitions between the making and finished product, ...

, Sue Williams, Jude Tallichet, Chuck Agro, David Carrino, Jody Culkin, Tony Feher, Paula Hayes,

Janet Henry Janet Henry is a visual artist based in New York City. Early life and education Henry was raised in East Harlem and then in Jamaica, Queens, where she currently lives. Henry attended the School of Visual Arts and the Fashion Institute of Te ...

, Barry Hylton, Pat Lasch, Julie Melton, Serge Pinkus, Barbara Pollack, and Lily Van Der Stokker, along with Heist and Parnes. They went door-to-door selling these multiple packets to SoHo galleries, including gallerists

David Zwirner David Zwirner (born October 23, 1964) is a German art dealer and owner of the David Zwirner Gallery in New York City, London, Hong Kong, and Paris. Early life and education Zwirner was born in Cologne, West Germany. The son of art dealer Rudolf ...

, Sandra Gering, and others, for $30 each. This secured the funding to pay for the space and the exhibition “The Art of Self-Defense and Revenge... It’s Really Hard” which presented the artists included in the multiple collection. The exhibition inverting stereotypes of power and passivity by separating the work of male and female artists. The exhibition was visited by critics

Michael Kimmelman Michael Kimmelman (born May 8, 1958) is the architecture critic for ''The New York Times'' and has written about public housing, public space, landscape architecture, community development and equity, infrastructure and urban design. He has report ...

and

Jerry Saltz Jerry Saltz (born February 19, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American art critic. Since 2006, he has been senior art critic and columnist for '' New York'' magazine. Formerly the senior art critic for ''The Village Voice'', he received the Pu ...

who wrote an encouraging review of the exhibition for ''

Art in America ''Art in America'' is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world in the United States, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It i ...

'' magazine. Heist and Parnes followed up in 1994 with an exhibition space rented alongside Bravin Lee Gallery on Mercer Street. Titled “Yes I Am, No I’m Not”, the exhibition included Matthew Benedict, Robert Blanchon,

Mary Beth Edelson Mary Beth Edelson (born Mary Elizabeth Johnson) (6 February 1933 - 20 April 2021) was an American artist and pioneer of the feminist art movement, deemed one of the notable "first-generation feminist artists." Edelson was a printmaker, book art ...

, Kara Hammond, Janet Henry, Trudie Reiss, Kenny Schachter, Kerri Scharlin, Danny Tisdale, Miguel Ventura, Karen Yamauchi, and Naief Yehya, and focused on created identities.

1995 to 2006

In March 1995, Momenta Art opened in a permanent exhibition space in

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a Neighborhoods in Brooklyn, neighborhood in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bedford–Stuyvesant to the s ...

. Signing a 10-year lease for 4,000 square ft space at 72 Berry Street close to the other emerging galleries. The space consisted of two small exhibition spaces, as well as artist studios that were offered at below-market rates. Artists who joined the community over the following ten years included

Rico Gatson Rico Gatson is a multidisciplinary artist working from Brooklyn, New York, whose work draws from his African-American background. Through his art, he provides social commentary on significant moments in African-American history. His work combines ...

Rochelle Feinstein Rochelle Feinstein (born 1947, Bronx, NY) is a contemporary American visual artist that makes abstract paintings, prints, video, sculpture, and installations that explore language and contemporary culture. She was appointed professor in painting ...

Rina Banerjee Rina Banerjee (born 1963) is an Indian Americans, Indian-American artist and sculptor."Bio"
Rinabanerjee.com, Retrieved onl ...

, Carl Fudge, Matthew Abbott,

Wangechi Mutu Wangechi Mutu (born 1972) is a Kenyan-born American visual artist, known primarily for her painting, sculpture, film, and performance work.Adam Henry. During this time, Momenta Art established itself as one of the hub galleries of the Williamsburg art scene, finding success in collaborations with Manhattan galleries, including Ronald Feldman, as well as with the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

. To complement their exhibitions, the gallery published a newsletter that detailed exhibiting artists and their creations as well as an annual catalog showcasing all the noteworthy gallery exhibitions. Additionally, the newsletter featured a helpful map highlighting nearby art spaces and provided supportive information for those who were unfamiliar with the Williamsburg arts community. Working as co-directors, Parnes and Heist became known for their group exhibition fundraisers at

White Columns White Columns is New York City’s oldest alternative non-profit art space. White Columns is known as a showcase for up-and-coming artists, and is primarily devoted to emerging artists who are not affiliated with galleries. All work submitted is ...

and other venues in which donated works by artists of note were raffled off to ticket holders. Michael Waugh joined the team managing Momenta Art in 2000 and under his guidance a publicly accessible video library was established. When Parnes stepped down as co-director in 2004, Waugh took on the role of assistant director and Parnes became the chair of the board. Other artists whose work was exhibited at this location include

Huma Bhabha Huma Bhabha (born 1962) is a Pakistanis, Pakistani-American Sculpture, sculptor based in Poughkeepsie, New York, Poughkeepsie, New York. Known for her uniquely grotesque, figurative forms that often appear dissected or dismembered, Bhabha often u ...

Derrick Adams Derrick Adams (born 1970) is an American visual and performance artist and curator. Much of Adams' work is centered around his Black identity, frequently referencing patterns, images, and themes of African-American culture, Black culture in Amer ...

Wangechi Mutu Wangechi Mutu (born 1972) is a Kenyan-born American visual artist, known primarily for her painting, sculpture, film, and performance work.Akiko Ichikawa Akiko Ichikawa (市川明子, ''Ichikawa Akiko,'' or アキーコー・イーチカーワ, ''Akiko Ichikawa'') is a Transdisciplinarity, transdisciplinary artist, editor, and writer-activist based in New York City. She has written on contempora ...

, Yasser Aggour, and Roe Ethridge. A group exhibition regarding created identities organized by artist Deb Kass titled “Enough About Me” included work by

Adrian Piper Adrian Margaret Smith Piper (born September 20, 1948) is an American conceptual artist and Kantian philosopher. Her work addresses how and why those involved in more than one discipline may experience professional ostracism, otherness, racial ...

Cindy Sherman Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Her breakthrough work is often co ...

, Michael Smith, John Kelly, Delia Brown,

Guy Richards Smit Guy Richards Smit (born 1970) is an American performance artist, painter, and singer-songwriter in the band Maxi Geil! & PlayColt. He has shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, also in London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Valencia, Paris, Du ...

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...

, Hiroshi Sunairi, and

Nikki S. Lee Nikki Seung-hee Lee (이승희, born 1970) is a South Korea-born visual artist, living in New York City and Seoul, that works with photography and film. Early life and education Lee was born in Geochang, South Korea. During her childhood, Lee ...

. “Pop Patriotism”, curated by artist Peter Scott, satirized the commercial exploitation of

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

and included work by Heidi Schlatter, Christy Rupp, Thomas Sherrod, and David Opdyke. “No Return”, organized by Eric Heist, examined circular systems of economy and waste linking art and commerce included works by Jed Ela, Lan Tuazon, Peggy Diggs,

Rainer Ganahl Rainer Ganahl (born 18 October 1961 in Bludenz) is an Austrian-American conceptual artist who lives and works in New York. His work has been widely exhibited, including the Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria; The Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, ...

, and Pawel Wojtasik. "Still Ill", organized by John Lovett and Alessandro Codagnone, presented a series of performances that included

Rita Ackermann Rita Ackermann (born April 19, 1968 in Hungary) is a Hungary, Hungarian-United States, American artist. She is currently living and working in New York City. Early life and education Rita Ackermann was born in Budapest (Hungary) in 1968. Ackerma ...

, Jonathan Schipper, Adrien Cowen, and Agathe Snow.

2006 to 2011

In 2006, Momenta ARt relocated to a larger space at 359

Bedford Avenue Bedford Avenue is the longest street in Brooklyn, New York City, stretching and 132 blocks, from Manhattan Avenue (Brooklyn), Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Greenpoint south to Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Sheepshead Ba ...

. During this period, Momenta Art garnered considerable art world attention for the shows such as Air Kissing (2007), addressed alienation and inequalities in the art world, and Project Rendition (2007), which examined the Bush administrations clandestine kidnapping and extradition of suspected terrorists. Momenta Art's time at 359 Bedford was relatively short-lived, however, as a changing demographic and real estate market in Williamsburg encouraged Heist and Waugh to move again, this time to

Bushwick, Brooklyn Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Par ...

, and a location that offered more space (over 4,000 square feet) and facilities for artists and exhibits than what was negotiable in Williamburg.Traux, Stephen. 2011. “Major Art Non-Profit Moves to Bushwick.” BushwickBK. May 14, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110514195909/http://bushwickbk.com/2011/05/10/major-art-non-profit-moves-to-bushwick/ .

2011 to closing

The first show for Momenta Art's Bushwick location at 56 Bogart Street, an exhibit of the photography of J. Pasila and Peter Scott, took place in the raw, partially-renovated space newly opened gallery. In a curatorial decision that reflected on the provisional nature of their current circumstances and the cyclical nature of neighborhood development, Momenta "simply stuck push pins directly through the print and attached them, frameless, on the wall." With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) plans for the new space included an expansion of the video library project, which housed hundreds of artworks from dozens of artists, and making them permanently available to the public on a searchable database on a touch-screen monitor at the gallery. Plans also included events hosted in the library, including panel discussions with past video artists, and an ongoing curated selection of video work on view in the gallery. With 2,700 feet of dedicated gallery and library space, the rest of the complex would be divided in art studios, storage, and eventually provide facilities for residencies Momenta's exhibitions during this period often critiqued the machinations of the art world and art markets and continued to focus on artists from under-represented communities. Bolivia Existe (2013–14) accommodated cross-generational Bolivian artists, whose works respond to

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

's painful history of military dictatorship and neoliberalization. The exhibition of Occupy Museums (2012) raised a series of questions regarding the

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

within which art institutions are embedded. Jacqueline Hoang Nguyen's solo exhibition Space Fiction & the Archives (2014) critiqued disguised racism and planned economic exploitation that lurk under rhetoric of

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

. With a reduced funding base beginning with the 2008 financial crisis, Momenta Art became a financially unsustainable organization. A final, 30-year survey exhibition was organized and Momenta concluded programming with the exhibition "Recap: Thirty Years of Momenta Art", on October 30, 2016.

References

{{Reflist Art gallery districts Artist-run centres Bushwick, Brooklyn Contemporary art galleries in the United States Non-profit organizations based in the United States Organizations based in Philadelphia Williamsburg, Brooklyn