West Village Gallery Is Closing on Jan. 20 To Protest Trump

WEST VILLAGE, NY — White Columns bills itself as New York's "oldest alternative art space." But if you try to visit on Friday Jan. 20, you'll be met with closed doors. The non-profit gallery, located at 320 W. 13th St. (between Hudson and 8th Ave.), is one of a number of galleries 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."

According to Hyperallergic, White Columns sent out an exhibition email with the following written at the bottom:

In addition to White Columns, here are some other 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
bitforms

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

Image via Creative Commons