INSPIRATION: A Trip Downtown

Here’s how to get a look at recent history you won’t find on VH1, and revisit a gritty, creative, provocative New York. Two exhibits this winter highlight the heady artistic life in the city from the mid-70’s to mid-80’s. At New York University’s Grey Art Gallery and Fales Library, “The Downtown Show: the New York Art Scene, 1974-1984” will feature more than 200 paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, videos, posters, books, and journals. In conjunction with that show, “Anarchy to Influence: Design in New York, 1974-1984” at the New School’s Parsons’ Aronson Galleries will examine punk posters and wild styles from fashion designers Patricia Field, Betsey Johnson, and Stephen Sprouse. Also on display: industrial items such as lockers and factory lamps put to domestic use in the artists’ lofts at the time. The exhibitions open January 10 and run through April 1 and 2, respectively. —Mark Mavrigian
Posted 12.19.05
Photo: Courtesy of Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University