The art world in the 1980s witnessed a revival of painting and sculpture of which ABC No Rio proved to be an early indicator. Exhibitions at the gallery included young, up-and-coming artists like Kiki Smith.
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Many of the artists who showed at ABC No Rio had a political agenda and wanted to promote the improvement of social conditions with their art. Artists worked with children from local schools and created themed shows around political issues.
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The year 1983 saw a shift at ABC No Rio as the volunteer artist administrator who had started and still ran the gallery passed the baton to a new group of artists who were primarily committed to performance and multi-media.
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Through an ongoing series of poetry readings ABC No Rio helped continue the bohemian, multi-cultural and impassioned spirit that characterizes the Lower East Side's rich poetry tradition.
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Today, the advertisements gathered in 1985 to pay for the printing of the ABC No Rio book are a time capsule of the first moments in the careers of up-and-coming artists and of early hot spots of the East Village art scene.
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"ABC No Rio Dinero is in large measure a conventional victory story. A militant polemic and direct action are rewarded with an accommodation by power, then the fun begins." From the "Afterward" by Alan W. Moore for the book ABC No Rio Dinero; the Story of A Lower East Side Art Gallery.
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Most of the artists that were featured in the book ABC No Rio Dinero: The Story of A Lower East Side Art Gallery are still active today. Learn more about how their art evolved over the last 25 years through these website links.
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