LES Art Galleries Are Closing on Jan. 20 To Protest Trump

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — If you're hoping to visit some art galleries in Lower Manhattan on Friday Jan. 20, you might find yourself disappointed. A number of galleries are shutting down in protest of Donald Trump, as part of an art strike in solidarity with a general strike on Inauguration Day.

More than 600 artists, curators and critics — including Cindy Sherman, Richard Serra, Chris Kraus and Hilton Als — have signed a petition calling for the “J20 Art Strike,” which urges museums, galleries, concert halls, art schools and nonprofit institutions to close to protest “the normalization of Trumpism.”

“It is not a strike against art, theater or any other cultural form," the statement reads. "It is an invitation to motivate these activities anew, to reimagine these spaces as places where resistant forms of thinking, seeing, feeling and acting can be produced.”

Connecting under the hashtag #J20, the movement bills itself "an act of non-compliance on inauguration day," urging "no work," "no school" and "no business." Instead, protesters will "hit the streets" and "fight back" against "a toxic mix of white supremacy, misogyny, xenophobia, militarism, and oligarchic rule."

Here are some of the Lower Manhattan galleries that are participating in the strike by shutting down for the day, as first reported by Hyperallergic:

Lower East Side:
Miguel Abreu Gallery

Essex Street

Salon 94

Canada Gallery

Station Independent Projects

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Chelsea:
Alexander Gray Associates (the gallery is also hosting a book event for Gene Stone, who has written a book called The Trump Survival Guide, on the 19th.)

Andrew Kreps Gallery

Cheim and Read

Lisson Gallery

LMAK Gallery

Steven Kasher Gallery

West Village:

White Column

Image via Creative Commons