VAN DER PLAS GALLERY
presents THE RIVINGTON SCHOOL
57 Stanton Street,
April 5-April 30, 2018
The Rivington scene centers around a group of artists who creatively thrived around Rivington and Forsyth Streets on New York’s Lower East Side during the 1980s and was centered around three tiny galleries, Nada (helmed by artist Jim C.), Freddy the Dreamer and No Se No (formerly the site of the social club/performance space of the same name) and a sculpture garden created in an adjacent vacant lot.
This Wild East scene attracted hundreds of painters, sculptors and performers, drawn by its free-form wild energy and largely non-commercial atmosphere. While all of these artists were doubtlessly influential in the creation and promulgation of the Rivington scene, the network in the Rivington School stretched far and wide and had international reach, further prompting exhibitions in Japan and Europe.
Similar to both the graffiti movement and the DIY tradition of punk rock, the Rivington artists generally evinced a kind of street energy, impossible to replicate today. It was the product of a place and time, and this exhibition affords a vital glimpse into a still-too-little-understood cavern in time called The Rivington School.
Artists include: Scot Borofsky, Jim C. (James Cornwell), Michael Carter, Linus Corragio, Angel Eyedealism, Richard Hambleton, E.F. Higgins III, Ken Hiratsuka, Istvan Kantor, Julius Klein, Shalom Neuman, Robert Parker, Therese Rodrigues, Susan Strande, Toyo Tsuchiya, Kevin Wendall (aka FA-Q), NIna Sobell, and Krzysztof Zarebski
Opening reception, Wednesday, April 18, 6-8 p.m.
VAN DER PLAS GALLERY
www.vanderplasgallery.com
57 Stanton Street
New York, NY 10002
Adriaan Van der Plas