The History Behind "The Facade"

By Storefront for Art and Architecture Archive

Storefront for Art and Arcihtecture

Storefront for Art and Architecture is part of the architectural culture and creativity initiatives in New York. Its facade accentuates the blurred border between public and private space at large. The front section of the gallery played a crucial role in materializing every activity at Storefront. This exhibition sets in train a series of documents to manifest the evolution of the facade since the birth of the institution. It is followed by another exhibition to highlight the design process of the current facade. 

51 Prince Street: The Birthplace ("1940") by NYC Municipal ArchivesStorefront for Art and Architecture Archive

The Beginning     

Storefront for Art and Architecture was co-founded in May 1982, in an old small store at 51 Prince Street.

51 Prince Street (1982) by Storefront for Art and ArchitectureStorefront for Art and Architecture Archive

Storefront for Art and Architecture was co-founded by Kyong Park and Robert Seltman, at a typical New York shop-front gallery in Little Italy. Park used his own savings and the help of some art-passionate friends to rent and renovate the old Italian coffee grinder’s place and turn it into a gallery. From the from the beginning, the mission of the gallery was to merge the aesthetic quest of art and architecture with the public life of New York.

51 Prince Street, Storefront for Art and Architecture, "1982", From the collection of: Storefront for Art and Architecture Archive
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Gowanus Canal Redefined, Frank Shifreen, Scott Siken, 1982-10, From the collection of: Storefront for Art and Architecture Archive
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Performance A-Z (1982-09-18) by Arlene SchlossStorefront for Art and Architecture Archive

Inaugural Exhibition ("1982") by Storefront for Art and ArchitectureStorefront for Art and Architecture Archive

The storefront section of the gallery eventually became a crucial part of each exhibition and performance. In addition to he physical condition, the main goal behind establishing the shoestring gallery initiated a new architectural narrative: The Facade! Over the course of the gallery's being, the facade has never been merely a frontage; it has been a still frame of the institutional mission that simultaneously captures and displays the history of the organization.

"Confession" exhibition (1983) by Kyong Park, Todd AyoungStorefront for Art and Architecture Archive

"Wheel and Shadow" Exhibition (1984-12-08/1985-01-06) by Storefront for Art and ArchitectureStorefront for Art and Architecture Archive

“STOREFRONT emulated the ambiance of the endemic ‘mom and pop’ stores that serviced our neighborhoods. In simplicity we hoped to facilitate function. Our function was to create a political front, a window perpetually radiating power from an underestimated art spirit de corps, a barrio art bodega. Just as each Italian social club consolidated and maintained the force of the local Italian community, we too sought freedom and means of expression for our minority, the creative underworld. STOREFRONT would represent what the art work dinosaurs, who trampled the healing herbs of our urban jungles, were not sensitive enough to perceive.”



-Robert Seltman, Starting Storefront , 1991

97 Kenmare Street (1940) by NYC Municipal ArchivesStorefront for Art and Architecture Archive

Relocation

From 1982 to 1986 the gallery was located in 51 Prince Street. In 1986, the organization was moved to the current site in Soho area, in a former tire shop on 97 Kenmare Street.

View of Storefront at 97 Kenmare Street ("1986") by Storefront for Art and ArchitectureStorefront for Art and Architecture Archive

According to the physical and spatial condition in the new place, the whole triangular gallery space was enveloped in the facade; a solid, wooden body with less connectivity between the inner space and the public hemisphere outside. Compared to the transparent display window of the gallery in Prince Street, the facade at Kenmare Street was modest and anonymous. As per this physicality, the humble character of Storefront was preserved in the new location.

Unprojected Habit (1992-02-08/1992-03-14) by Storefront for Art and ArchitectureStorefront for Art and Architecture Archive

Later, the old wooden facade was physically worn through a series of projects. First in 1987, John Fekner, graffitied STOREFRONT as the stenciled word spelled out in calculator font. Unprojected Habit (1992) was the first exhibition in which the artwork harshly became a part of the facade. With the series of prefabricated portable metal toilets cut through the wooden walls, the project ironically linked an aesthetically charged space to the public domain of the street.

Unprojected Habits (1992-02) by James Keyden Cathcart, Frank Fantauzzi, and Terrence Van ElslandeStorefront for Art and Architecture Archive

Not only this project penetrated the physical barrier, but also as Kyong Park mentions “the project usurps the exclusivity of cultural space by reducing architecture to its most fundamental role... By facing the toilets towards the street, open for public use, the facade “embraced social and urban functionality.”

Pressure Buildings and Blackouts (1992-09-26/1992-10-31) by Mark WestStorefront for Art and Architecture Archive

The other site-specific installation from the same year, Pressure Buildings and Blackouts, also took control of the modest, musty-green facade. The cast concrete with fabric tension membranes used in this installation left out circular cavities on the facade. Once again, the facade emerged as the medium between the artwork and the audience. Throughout the mentioned shows, the reciprocity between the facade and the interior gallery branched out; either the exhibition became a part of the facade or vice versa.

Old Facade Photo Collage ("1993") by Storefront for Art and ArchitectureStorefront for Art and Architecture Archive

Remaining of the past exhibitions: The stenciled “STOREFRONT” by John Fekner (1987)

Remaining of the past exhibitions: The cutout lines from Unprojected Habit (1992)

Remaining of the past exhibitions: The filled out cavities (painted red spots) from Pressure Buildings and Blackouts (1992)

Credits: Story

- Now explore the history behind the design and fabrication of new facade.

- For more information please visit: Other media on Internet Archive Platform.

- For more information about the mentioned shows in this exhibition please visit:
- Performance A-Z (1982)
- Gowanus Canal Redefined (1982)
- Wheel and Shadow (1984)
- Unprojected Habit (1992)
- Pressure Buildings and Blackouts (1992)

This Google Arts and Culture exhibit is curated by Farnoosh Farmer. Text is from the article "The Facade: a Surface, a Frame, a Nil Resolution" (2019) by Farnoosh Farmer.

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions (listed below) who have supplied the content.
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