303 Gallery: 35 Years is a new hardcover publication chronicling the story of the gallery from its founding in 1984 through its history creating and mirroring developments in the New York and international art worlds, forming a portrait of the gallery as it stands in the present day. Edited by Kurt Brondo, designed by Common Name, and published by 303inPrint under the direction of Fabiola Alondra, the limited edition 448-page book is a culmination of years of research, collation, and unearthing of the gallery’s archives in an attempt to construct a complete history. Documentation of early group shows, guest curatorial projects and provocations illustrate the collaborative nature of the program, where now-seminal artists, curators, gallerists, and writers exchanged ideas and roles in New York’s fertile ’80s heyday. It was a time where it would not be unusual for 303 Gallery’s neighbor (American Fine Arts) to share a solo exhibition by an artist under a pseudonym (Richard Prince / John Dogg), or where 303 Gallery would host a group show for a like-minded but entirely separate gallery under both of their names (AC Project Room at 303 Gallery).
Texts from artists including Richard Prince, Collier Schorr, Karen Kilimnik, Kim Gordon, Mary Heilmann, Sue Williams, Rodney Graham, Doug Aitken, Nick Mauss and Alicja Kwade, among other important contributions, offer intimate and historically significant accounts of how 303 Gallery began, how it has progressed, and what it has meant to them.
A group exhibition of the same title accompanies the publication, with a selection of ephemera featured in the book alongside works that draw from the gallery’s rich history and current program. Iconic works foregrounding the long relationships of many artists continuing to show with the gallery are exhibited here in conversation with recent works by artists who are newer additions to the roster. The show speaks to the continual evolution of the program over the years, creating a picture of what 303 Gallery has been, what it currently represents, and where it is headed.
