ABC No Rio

A portrait by Gus Wittmayer, entitled, “Gypsy Girl” 
(courtesy Wittmayer Studios, Atlanta)

As part of the City review of our project, ABC No Rio was required to hire consultants to perform an historical, documentary study of our site at 156 Rivington Street.

The report prepared by Chrysalis Archaeological Consultants traces the history of the site from the 17th Century to the present, and includes many interesting facts, such as:

—Jacobus van Curler (Corlear) acquired the land at what is now 156 Rivington Street in the 1630s; although Corlear had initially promised the property to a freed “negro” who occupied the site, Anthony Fernando, he then sold the land to William Beekman in 1652; Beekman then successfully evicted Fernando from the land he’d been farming;

—Tax records indicate that from at least 1827 to 1830 the site was occupied by the Sterling Company, a manufacturer of nails and chains that employed up to 400 workers;

—In the 1830s John Sniffen, his wife Jane, and their eight children lived at 156 Rivington Street; Sniffen was a staunch proponent of the Graham System of Living, which called for the adoption of a vegetarian diet as a means to prevent impure thoughts;

—In 1861 musician and composer Gaetano Daga lived at 156 Rivington Street; Daga is best known for his 1843 piece “Union Blues Quick Step,” which is in the Library of Congress;

—In 1919 the storefront at 156 Rivington Street was leased to photographer Gustave Wittmayer; Gus’ Photo Studio was at 156 Rivington Street and then at 158 Rivington Street for the next fifty years;

We’ve decided to make two versions of the report available on our website for those with an interest in the history of New York and the Lower East Side:

A smaller file of the report (2.4MB), without the Geotechnical Report as an appendix can be downloaded at: http://media.abcnorio.org/reports/abcnorio_documentary_study_no_geotech.pdf

The file that includes the Geotechnical Report (8.2MB) can be downloaded at: http://media.abcnorio.org/reports/abcnorio_documentary_study_complete.pdf

Information in the Geotechnical Report is pretty arcane, and may be of limited interest to those without a background in engineering or geology.

ABC No Rio Entry, 1980; Photo by Jody Culkin

Alternative Histories at Exit Art

ABC No Rio is one of over 130 spaces and organizations represented in Exit Art’s Alternative Histories exhibition.

“Alternative Histories is a history of New York City alternative art spaces and projects since the 1960s… ‘Imagination is an alternative to reality, creating options that never end,’ says Papo Colo, co-founder of Exit Art… The exhibition incorporates a broad definition of the term ‘alternative space,’ and includes significant publications and artist collectives to cover a broad arc of this history – bridging neighborhoods, decades and themes.”

On Friday October 15 at 7:00pm at Exit Art former ABC No Rio Directors Jack Waters and Peter Cramer will take part in the What is Alternative? panel, along with Papo Colo, Martha Wilson (Franklin Furnace), and Bridget Finn (Cleopatra’s). Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale School of Art, moderates.

Alternative Histories runs through November 24.

Photo by Bruce Barone (1980) of building at 157 Rivington Street from which ABC No Rio took it’s name — ABOGADO NOTARIO to ABC NO RIO. Stencils by Anton van Dalen on the window from the “Animals Living in Cities” show.

LONG OUT OF PRINT, ABC NO RIO DINERO NOW ON-LINE

Thanks to Marc Miller, the long out print book ABC No Rio Dinero: Portrait of a Lower East Side Art Gallery is now online at Marc’s website, http://98bowery.com

Published in 1985 and edited by Marc Miller and Alan Moore, one of No Rio’s founders and a current Board Member, ABC No Rio Dinero has been a much cited primary source about the New York art scene of the 1980s.

With new layouts and color scans, the online version of ABC No Rio Dinero preserves the early history of a pioneer Lower East Side art space that was the unplanned progeny of the “Real Estate Show,” an illegal exhibition in an abandoned, city-owned building squatted by artists on New Year’s Eve 1980.

Compiling art and articles from the period, the book includes sections on Collaborative Projects Inc. (Colab), the Time Square Show, the South Bronx art space Fashion-Moda, Group Material, PADD, and East Village music and art in the 1980s. Amongst the featured artists and writers are young, up-and-comers of the 1980s like Kiki Smith, Tom Otterness, John Ahearn, Tim Rollins, Walter Robinson, and Jeffrey Deitch; the No Rio stalwarts Becky Howland, Bobby G, Peter Cramer and Jack Waters; photographers Martha Cooper, Lisa Kahane, and Tom Warren; established voices like Lucy Lippard; and a poetry section edited by Josh Gosciak that includes Amiri Baraka, Bob Holman and Miguel Pinero.

http://98bowery.com