Storefront for Art and Architecture

Storefront for Art and Architecture is one of the most important small cultural institutions in New York. Despite its modest footprint, it consistently delivers ideas that feel larger than the city itself. The Holl / Acconci facade, opening to the street like a living hinge, perfectly captures its mission: dissolve urban barriers, invite the intrepid public in, and treat exploratory architecture as an active civic force. Love this place!

Miraculously, the iconic Storefront for Art and Architecture, designed by Steven Holl (born 1947) and Vito Acconci (1940-2017) in 1992, is still around and still has an active program of exhibitions. Beautiful interior space. The exterior art gets changed on a regular basis.

So happy to see this icon of post-modern art space still going strong after so many years. It’s a brilliant idea that its founder, Kyong Park, was able to make happen, along with architect Steven Holl. It really ought to become a NYC historic landmark, as it has contributed so much to the downtown post-modern and current cultural space in art and architecture. Do visit.

Love this space. Make sure you find the door and go inside! I almost missed the door but when I got inside I had the whole gallery to myself. Really enjoyed the exhibit. I am an architecture student and wanted some inspiration, found it here!

Storefront for Art and Architecture museum is a must see for a contemporary art lover. I enjoyed it so much - even got a t-shirt for my good friend. Infinity room is my next goal to visit. It is very hard to get into infinity room without reservation and specially on weekends:( But I plan on going back again - what an enjoyable time I had at Storefront for Art and Architecture-for the eye and soul.

This place is unique and has good art and design related exhibits. The buildings outside is made of movable piece's, much like movable Legos or some kind of builder blocks, and the people who run this space are great!

Um, I'm being generous with the "Good" rating. This place is extremely cerebral, to the point where you probably won't have a clue what they're talking about. It's as obtuse and obscure as Artforum, and if it looked more interesting maybe you'd pause long enough to figure it out. But it doesn't. The building is kind of interesting architecture-wise, but I think ambition overcame skill and mostly it just looks run-down.

one of the greatest art and architecture gallery around. founded in 1982, it is run by an independent and non-profit organization. They organize exhibitions, talks, and a wide variety of other programs. it's worth a visit (more than one!)

Visit New York's Storefront for Art and Architecture to view Amanda Williams' installation "What Black Is This, You Say?" The exhibit is on the walls of the building which open up as a multifaceted exploration of color, race, and identity. Amanda Williams is a Chicago-based visual artist. Williams initially posted over 120 shades and textures of black on her Instagram account in 2020 which "provide a rich palette of overlapping and divergent narratives and histories that inform Black identity." The exhibit "What Black Is This, You Say?" features 12 of the shades of black explored by Williams in her Instagram posts. Each of the 12 shades is painted onto one of the 12 moving panels of the gallery facade--a different shade of black for each panel. Read each panel and think about what you read. The panels explore themes and narratives around Black culture, like joy, spirituality, and suffering. Check the hours. The exhibit panels were not open on an early Sunday morning, but still worth a quick stop. Such a great use of precious space in SoHo.

Ever read Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead?...I think iconoclastic Howard Roark would approve of this innovative art gallery...at least before he ravaged the sexually frustrated Dominique Francon who whipped him with a riding crop for laughing at her. But I digress... Surely this is the most creatively conceived storefront in New York much less SoHo. Designed by architect Steven Hall and artist Vito Acconci, it's an expansive concrete wall with cantilevered panels of various sizes that expose the art inside at varying degrees. Confused? Look at the photo I posted. Right now, there is a fascinating exhibition from French photographer Frederic Chaubin, who has documented unusual architectural artifacts born during the last two decades of the Cold War. The continuous melding of art and architecture is obviously the running theme of this gallery and well worth a peek when you're in the neighborhood.

Cool doorway that's a bunch of panels that open every which way to create a visually stunning "store front"...but beyond that...I just didn't get it. But perhaps it was the exhibit that was going on this past weekend? It wasn't as stunning or avant garde as the space itself, so we eneded up more interested in the door/wall panels then the exhibit (which is never a good thing). Or perhaps I was just glutted with so much Italian street food from the festival in Little Italy that my brain just wasn't working...? Or perhaps it's just me. As a failed art student, I tend to be hyper critical of art...heh. You know what they say...those who can, do, those who can't, become critics. Cool space, but if you're an artist that is planning on exhibiting here, just know that your work will have stiff competition from its surroundings.

Wha!! What kind of a doorway is that?! Well, it's the entranceway to The Storefront for Art and Architecture, a not-for-profit gallery that has been around since 1982. The gallery's facade is a set of panels that swing, tilt, pivot and open and close, allowing curators to use them in all sorts of different ways to show exhibits. The Storefront's facade was an early test case created by architect Steven Holl (working together with artist Vito Acconci) to work out the architect's concept of "porosity," his idea for radically re-thinking the way a building's walls, ceilings and floors function. The Storefront will be closed for summer 2008 after their latest show wraps up (6/28/08) to make renovations on the facade, which was built in 1993. As any experimental design would, the facade has had some functional problems and they're at the point now where those problems really need to be attended to. Renovations are expected to be finished in late September '08, in time for the fall gallery season. If you're an armchair architecture nerd like me, then you'll want to keep up with this gallery's exhibits and events. There have been an awful lot of new art museums constructed in the U.S. and internationally in recent years; it's exciting to see a space like The Storefront for Art and Architecture, where the design really is as innovative as the work on exhibit inside the space.

I was fortunate enough to be a part of an installation called Reef that opened June. The Storefront offers a great an interesting venue in the middle of SoHo. The gallery is small in it's own right, but offers spill out to the sidewalk and engages the community when there is an opening. I would recommend to stop by and see the current exhibit if you're in the area.

Storefront has great little shows and installations with fun opening and closing receptions. The space is very inviting to the public because of the proximity and direct contact with the sidewalk. Like most openings its hard to actually see the work that night so you might have to come back when you can walk around in the space without squeezing through a crowd.

Designed by Steven Holl in 1993 (http://www.stevenholl.com/project-detail.php?type=museums&id=24) a wonderfully playful piece to blur the line between inside and outside. Play with the panels. You need to plan on going here, because the hours are not always right, and they will close for days without any notice, give them a call before you head over.