Image above: Brent Crothers, Below the Surface
Mott Haven branch of the New York Public Library, Bronx, NY
Co-curated with JC Rice, 2005
The library is a pre-existing public space, with a certain audience in attendance every day. A library also is a not-commercial public place, and serves as a repository and forum for ideas. A good art show could have the same features. Why not work with Library as concept–and treat the limitations of space inside this well-used library branch as a possibility?
This show includes artists from many communities, as a way of affirming the validity of art practice across varied backgrounds and experiences. Roughly half of the artists in this show are associated with the Bronx in some way, and the rest were drawn to show in this space because of the kind of place it is—the library.
Special thanks to the artists who generously shared their work for this exhibition and The New York Public Library.
Selected installation images below.
Haisi Hu, Once Upon a Life, small chairs, books, tables, door, and hotdog stand; props from film 
Once Upon a Life installed in children’s library cabinet 
Julie Nagle, Three Table Legs in Crate, mahogany, bronze, and plexiglass 
Augustine Cruz, Frederick Douglass
Patrick Brennan and Sherri Caudell, New Orleans Zine
Patrick Brennan and Sherri Caudell, New Orleans Zine installed on main floor 
Sam Lewitt, Unlimited photocopy edition
