Fifteen

Cristin Tierney Gallery is pleased to present Fifteen, a commemorative group exhibition in celebration of the gallery’s 15^th anniversary. The exhibition opens Friday, September 5th, with a public reception from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, followed by an open house brunch on Saturday, September 6th, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Fifteen closes Saturday, October 4th.

Fifteen includes works by artists who have contributed to the legacy, reputation, and ethos of Cristin Tierney Gallery—fostering education, collaboration, community, and experimentation. The exhibition presents an energetic and eclectic mix of single-channel video installations, standing sculptures, wall works, paintings, and performances. It emphasizes the dynamism of the gallery’s history and its long-standing commitment to non-traditional disciplines and time-based media—including conceptual, video, and performance art—and to artists whose work engages with art history and critical theory.

Participating artists include Melanie Baker, Janet Biggs, Claudia Bitrán, François Bucher, Victor Burgin, Diane Burko, peter campus, Joe Fig, Julian V.L. Gaines, MK Guth, Malia Jensen, Debbi Kenote, Alois Kronschlaeger, Shaun Leonardo, Joan Linder, Mary Lucier, Jennifer Marman and Daniel Borins, T. Kelly Mason, Maureen O’Leary, David Opdyke, Judy Pfaff, Dread Scott, Mark Sengbusch, Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos), Audra Skuodas, Jorge Tacla, Francisco Ugarte, John Wood and Paul Harrison, and Tim Youd.

Fifteen also marks the gallery’s grand reopening and first exhibition since relocating to the Tribeca Arts District. The new 4,000-square-foot, two-level storefront was designed by Union Street Studio Architects. It features a 2,000-square-foot main gallery on the ground floor, additional exhibition areas, and a semi-permanent black box for video art and multimedia installations. This setup supports more ambitious formats and expansion of the gallery's unconventional, thought-provoking programming, which has defined it for the past fifteen years.

As an homage to the gallery’s new neighborhood, two artists will present conceptual performances tied to Tribeca and its history. At the Fifteen opening and brunch receptions, MK Guth will stage a Reading Aloud performance, arranging for performers—disguised as gallery-goers—to randomly begin reading aloud texts about Tribeca, one cued after the other, creating a cacophony of sound where stories and facts collide with experience. The work engages and draws attention to what happens when multiple platforms of knowledge overlap, intersect, and obscure each other. How does the transport of meaning shift when multiple printed works are amplified by voice?

Additionally, throughout the duration of the exhibition, and as part of his ongoing performance series 100 Novels Project, Tim Youd will retype Jay McInerney’s classic 1980s novel, Bright Lights, Big City—set against the backdrop of Tribeca. This multi-week performance involves repeatedly typing onto one page backed by a second sheet, both running through a typewriter countless times. The result is an accumulated text—tattered, illegible, ink-soaked—mounted side-by-side as a diptych. It visually interprets the novel and relays the vibrant ’80s downtown decadence. This will mark Youd’s 83^rd retyping performance.

Fifteen also features a range of important video works by peter campus, Mary Lucier, and Shaun Leonardo; sculptural works by Judy Pfaff, Malia Jensen and Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos); paintings by Alois Kronschlaeger, Julian V.L. Gaines, and Diane Burko; a conceptual work by Victor Burgin; and a neon installation by John Wood and Paul Harrison, among many others. 

One highlight in Fifteen is Dread Scott’s large-scale screenprint Imagine A World Without America (2007). This work uses a standard Mercator map projection, shifting Western perspectives by decentering America, and bringing Africa and Europe to the forefront. It is founded upon challenging American patriotism as a unifying value. Perhaps one must imagine a structurally different world to produce new and freer modes of thought. Scott’s work is an invitation to question the global human condition, and implicitly America’s role in trade, war, cultural exchange, and the spread of Western values.

All the works in Fifteen represent a diversity of perspectives representative of the gallery’s program.

Founded in 2010, Cristin Tierney Gallery is a contemporary art gallery with a deep commitment to the presentation, development, and support of a roster of both established and emerging artists. Its program emphasizes artists engaged with critical theory and art history, with an emphasis on conceptual, video, and performance art. Education and audience engagement is central to our mission. Cristin Tierney Gallery is a member of the ADAA (Art Dealers Association of America).