Artists in NYC

November 1, 2007 10:36 AM

I want to generate a list of visual artists working in NYC. Just the ones with established, active careers and gallery representation -- this is so I can get a new internship. I'm especially interested in artists in their 30s and 40s.
posted by xo to media & arts (12 comments total)

Are you asking us to contribute names or are you looking for suggestions on how to go about compiling this list?
posted by blaneyphoto at 10:49 AM on November 1, 2007

Walk around Soho, Dumbo, and the Lower East Side looking for galleries. Stop in and ask the gallery employee or owner about the artists you see exhibited there. Go home and check them out on the internet, or look them up in a library.
posted by breezeway at 10:59 AM on November 1, 2007

It's NYC, that's a list with thousands of names on it. Are you going to spam them indiscriminately with a request if they fit your profile? You'd be much better served career-wise going to galleries and asking about the artists whose work you find interesting.
posted by lia at 11:06 AM on November 1, 2007

I'm with lia on this. An established artist doesn't need free/cheap labor like a struggling artist. You'd be much better off narrowing down the artists you like and admire and then being earnest in contacting them directly for an internship.
posted by junesix at 11:10 AM on November 1, 2007

lia and junesix, you're not answering the question. I didn't ask you how to contact artists or if I should. I asked for help generating a list of names. Appropriate answers might be, "an article in Art Forum in December 2006 that talked about the state of the art world in NYC and interviewed a bunch of artists," or "Lorna Simpson, Matthew Barney, the Starn Twins."

Breezeway, I know where the galleries in NYC are. I know that they show artists from all over the world, including New York. I know I could look up every gallery one-by-one and click on each artists' name and then read the associated press to see if they happen to have a studio in Brooklyn. However, this is obviously not the most efficient process.

I already intern for two established artists based in NYC.
posted by xo at 11:28 AM on November 1, 2007

Ok, so you're looking for a list of names.... Does the artists media matter? No sense in giving you a long list of say, glass artists if that's not your field.
posted by blaneyphoto at 11:46 AM on November 1, 2007

I know I could look up every gallery one-by-one and click on each artists' name and then read the associated press to see if they happen to have a studio in Brooklyn. However, this is obviously not the most efficient process.

Oh. I was going to suggest doing just that, if you failed to find any artists the first way.

Another way might be to wait around and keep refreshing this page; someone might do your internet research for you and post it here. That's a sort of recursive response to your AskMe, but if you don't ask a question, you can't fault the answer.
posted by breezeway at 11:58 AM on November 1, 2007 [1 favorite]

Breezeway, my apologies. Yours is a fair suggestion. I lumped it in with the other two patronizing ones ("are you going to spam them indiscriminately," "an established artist doesn't need free/cheap labor,") because it too seemed to presuppose that I am embarking on a quest I know nothing about. It is my fault for not using the "more inside" feature to list the means I am already aware of. I had been trying to avoid being overly restrictive with parameters and thus not getting helpful answers, but I guess I was too general.

Blaneyphoto, the medium doesn't matter as much as the age of the artist because I'm using these internships to see how these artists manage their careers as much as I am learning about their specific creative practice.
posted by xo at 12:13 PM on November 1, 2007

lia and junesix, you're not answering the question.

Questions end with a question mark. You didn't ask one. If you're going to be vague, don't get pissy when people don't give you what you want.

Have you tried places like SVA?
posted by mkultra at 12:44 PM on November 1, 2007

Sorry, everyone.

How can I generate a list of established, gallery-represented artists in their 30s and 40s who are working in NYC?

Any names spring to mind? Recall any articles that discuss the state of the art world in NYC that list a number of artists? Are there any artworld blogs or culture magazines that focus on NYC-based artists? Is there an organization that keeps a comprehensive directory (like Connecticut Culture and Tourism's Directory of Performing and Teaching Artists)? Have any tv programs about artists (such as Art21) done a NYC-centric episode?
posted by xo at 12:54 PM on November 1, 2007

One thing you might try is Pierogi in Williamsburg; their flat files were/are pretty close to almost comprehensive. They might have a list of artists who have contributed to the files, that you could then use as a starting point.

Or else the big show at PS1... whatthehellisthatcalled... the big, every artist in NYC show - I hope you know what I'm talking about. This would also give you a big list of artists working in NYC, most of whom are mid-early career.

Lastly, maybe you would be better off working your list from the other direction - what do you want the list for, and find that : the group known as 'artist' in their 30's and 40's working in NYC is an ill-defined and constantly evolving one.

Good luck.
posted by From Bklyn at 2:44 PM on November 1, 2007

Greater New York.

(Big whatthehellisthatcalled show I was talking about above)
posted by From Bklyn at 3:06 PM on November 1, 2007