ALL DRESSED UP WITH NOWHERE TO GO
April 24 - May 31, 2020
Herman Aguirre | Michael Alvarez | Chris Ballantyne | Gina Beavers | Bradley Biancardi | Sam Bornstein | Kimberly Brooks | Anne Buckwalter | Mahari Chabwera | Genevieve Cohn | Daniel B Dias | John Dilg | Ashley Doggett | Amir H. Fallah | Kareem-Anthony Ferreira | Josias Figueirido | Matthew F Fisher | Emily Furr | Angelina Gualdoni | Kyle Hackett | Andrea Joyce Heimer | Kirk Henriques | Anthony Iacono | Alex Jackson | Alex Kanevsky | Alyssa Klauer | Laura Krifka | Talia Levitt | Eddie Martinez | Lilian Martinez | Sarah McEneaney | Na’ye Perez | Nicholas Perry | Lee Piechocki | Umar Rashid | Samantha Rosenwald | Michael Royce | Maja Ruznic | Jordan Seaberry | Alexandria Smith | Vaughn Spann | Jered Sprecher | Anastasiya Tarasenko | Ann Toebbe | Emma Webster | Emily Weiner | Eric Yahnker
The COVID-19 crisis has changed all of our lives in ways that we could scarcely have imagined only two months ago. The art world, which is a fragile ecosystem even in good times, has been devastated, and all of invested in its well-being are searching for viable paths forward.
In 1994, I founded New American Paintings magazine as way to connect artists and those with a potential interest in their work. In those pre-internet days, it offered wide-spread exposure to hundreds of artists who had few options for reaching a wider public. Over the years, the publication has grown and we now count thousands of working artists as New American Paintings alumni. Many of them have gone on the receive international acclaim: Nina Akunyili Crosby, Eddie Martinez, Robin Francesca Williams and Amy Sherald, among them.
Over the past two months, we have been using the publication's various resources to do everything we can to help support struggling artists and the galleries and other organizations that support their efforts. A month ago, we began reaching out to New American Paintings alumni with the idea of organizing a virtual exhibition of their work that would help support arts relief. The interest in being included in All Dressed Up With Nowhere to Go was overwhelming. So much so, that we ultimately curated the show to include 47 artists. Participating artists have been given the option of donating 25% of the proceeds to the New York Foundation for the Arts, or a charity of their choice; they also had the option of keeping the 25% for themselves. I am pleased to say that the included artists selected to make charitable donations.
All Dressed Up With Nowhere to Go features artists from a range of backgrounds and aesthetic viewpoints. Some, such as Sarah McEneaney and John Dilg, were first featured in New American Paintings more than twenty years ago; others are current MFA candidates at the beginning of their careers. All of them have distinct practices that are deserving of attention.
We hope that you enjoy the exhibition. From all of us at New American Paintings and Steven Zevitas Gallery, we hope that you stay safe and healthy.
Steven Zevitas
Publisher
New American Paintings
Image: Angelina Gualdoni, "Save USSSSSSSSS", 2018, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 25" x 28".