Storefront For Art and Architecture

Cool doorway that’s a bunch of panels that open every which way to create a visually stunning «store front»…but beyond that… I just didn’t get it.
But perhaps it was the exhibit that was going on this past weekend? It wasn’t as stunning or avant garde as the space itself, so we eneded up more interested in the door/​wall panels then the exhibit (which is never a good thing). Or perhaps I was just glutted with so much Italian street food from the festival in Little Italy that my brain just wasn’t working???
Or perhaps it’s just me. As a failed art student, I tend to be hyper critical of art… heh. You know what they say… those who can, do, those who can’t, become critics.
Cool space, but if you’re an artist that is planning on exhibiting here, just know that your work will have stiff competition from its surroundings.

Storefront has great little shows and installations with fun opening and closing receptions. The space is very inviting to the public because of the proximity and direct contact with the sidewalk.
Like most openings its hard to actually see the work that night so you might have to come back when you can walk around in the space without squeezing through a crowd.

I was fortunate enough to be a part of an installation called Reef that opened June. The Storefront offers a great an interesting venue in the middle of SoHo. The gallery is small in it’s own right, but offers spill out to the sidewalk and engages the community when there is an opening. I would recommend to stop by and see the current exhibit if you’re in the area.

Wha! What kind of a doorway is that?!
Well, it’s the entranceway to The Storefront for Art and Architecture, a not-​for-​profit gallery that has been around since 1982. The gallery’s façade is a set of panels that swing, tilt, pivot and open and close, allowing curators to use them in all sorts of different ways to show exhibits.
The Storefront’s façade was an early test case created by architect Steven Holl (working together with artist Vito Acconci) to work out the architect’s concept of «porosity,» his idea for radically re-​thinking the way a building’s walls, ceilings and floors function.
The Storefront will be closed for summer 2008 after their latest show wraps up (6÷28÷08) to make renovations on the façade, which was built in 1993.
As any experimental design would, the façade has had some functional problems and they’re at the point now where those problems really need to be attended to. Renovations are expected to be finished in late September ’08, in time for the fall gallery season.
If you’re an armchair architecture nerd like me, then you’ll want to keep up with this gallery’s exhibits and events.
There have been an awful lot of new art museums constructed in the U.S. and internationally in recent years; it’s exciting to see a space like The Storefront for Art and Architecture, where the design really is as innovative as the work on exhibit inside the space.

Designed by Steven Holl in 1993 (
) a wonderfully playful piece to blur the line between inside and outside. Play with the panels. You need to plan on going here, because the hours are not always right, and they will close for days without any notice, give them a call before you head over.

Ever read Ayn Rand’s «The Fountainhead… I think iconoclastic Howard Roark would approve of this innovative art gallery… at least before he ravaged the sexually frustrated Dominique Francon who whipped him with a riding crop for laughing at her. But I digress…
Surely this is the most creatively conceived storefront in New York much less SoHo. Designed by architect Steven Hall and artist Vito Acconci, it’s an expansive concrete wall with cantilevered panels of various sizes that expose the art inside at varying degrees. Confused? Look at the photo I posted.
Right now, there is a fascinating exhibition from French photographer Frederic Chaubin, who has documented unusual architectural artifacts born during the last two decades of the Cold War. The continuous melding of art and architecture is obviously the running theme of this gallery and well worth a peek when you’re in the neighborhood.