signs and symbols postcard project
In this period of forced isolation we discovered ourselves musicians, painters, writers...but above all we enjoyed every artistic expression as we drink from a fresh water source in the middle of the desert. If our spirits will come out intact from this quarantine it will also be thanks to those artists, curators and gallery owners who have always believed in the "power of art" to enrich the search for meaning that accompanies our lives. But how is the artistic community reacting to this unprecedented crisis? And above all, how are the youngest and most experimental galleries surviving?
We spoke with Mitra, director of signs and symbols, a contemporary art space grounded in performance, based in New York.
How would you describe signs and symbols?
signs and symbols is a contemporary art space focused on performance and time-based media — but signs and symbols encompasses much more than that. We have always referred to ourselves as a collective, because we truly are a community/family. Our physical gallery space serves as a curatorial platform and multi-disciplinary incubator bringing together diverse artistic voices to stimulate dialogue and creative connection. Our program highlights the live arts – every exhibition has a live performance element, dance, sound etc. In order to sustain our program and support what we do, we do everything we can to thrive and survive in normal times. We maintain low overhead costs, we install almost everything by ourselves with our artists, and we balance our ephemeral and less sellable projects with more commercially viable exhibitions. This endeavor is truly a labor of love for the art, and a commitment to the artists we represent.
What are the challenges that you are facing as director of a startup gallery?
Every gallery is struggling right now, but we are particularly young, small and ambitious. We will celebrate our 2nd birthday this April 29th, and we are a team of just two people — myself and one staff member, Bridget Casey.
Now, while our physical space is closed indefinitely due to COVID19, we and our artists face a completely unexpected and unprecedented financial challenge. Our programs hinge on the LIVE experience, from intimate and participatory performances to site-specific installations and project residencies. Many of the main pillars of our program are simply impossible during social distancing. We have also had to place our exhibition program on hold, a carefully planned and balanced schedule that is crucial to our financial security. As a young gallery, we do not have deep reserves to keep us afloat while we cannot operate at our storefront space.
We also do not qualify for the majority of small business loans and COVID19 assistance programs, given the fluctuating nature and structure of our business model. Our landlord is unwilling to negotiate rent. Most of our clients do not have the resources or stability to collect artworks in this market. We don't know when New York will ease social distancing mandates, so while we are indefinitely closed, we must tackle two distinct challenges: translating our program to the online realm, and surviving financially.
We are navigating this difficult situation together with our artists, with whom I am in constant daily communication. We don’t have a definitive solution, but we do have each other and we are doing the best we can to survive this pandemic together.
What kind of initiatives did you create in order to face this unprecedented crisis?
We believe that it is our responsibility as a gallery to continue championing our artists, and we firmly believe that art plays a vital role in guiding individuals and society through such uncertain times.
We wanted our online program to stay true to our curatorial vision and reflect our commitment to performance and time-based media. In response, we have organized a series of online solo video exhibitions, featuring Jen DeNike, Ornella Fieres, Broomberg & Chanarin, Tony Orrico, Michelle Handleman and Rachel Libeskind. We felt that these video works were always intended to be shown on a screen, so showing them online wouldn't compromise their integrity. We are also regularly livestreaming performances on our Instagram @signssymbols, including Annabel Daou's nightly durational performance I will worry for you (from today until tomorrow).
In response to our current financial crisis, with our artists help we have launched a carefully curated online shop featuring some very special initiatives by our artists which will help us cover our rent and allow our artists to continue producing work, every dollar helps during this time and brings us closer to the ability of providing future exhibition and performance space for our artists.
One very special initiative on our online shop by our artists, is our signs and symbols postcard project (follow along on Instagram #signsandsymbolspostcardproject). For $35, our artists are creating unique postcard size artworks. For every postcard purchase, we select an artist that we think would speak to the recipient. One of our artists then creates an original 4 x 6 inch (10.16 x 15.24 cm) work on paper, with whatever materials they happen to have on hand during this time in quarantine. Some of our artists have access to their studios while others don’t… Once the postcard is complete, the artists directly mail it to their collector, from wherever in the world they are located, as an offering of hope and connection.
On their way to the post office, the artist will send us a selfie with the artwork before they mail it off, and we’ll share this photo update to our Instagram @signssymbols. We have also tried to assign an artist who is geographically as close as possible to purchasers. Once the postcard arrives, it belongs to you completely. You are welcome to frame it, display it, photograph it or tuck it into a drawer as a memento of these times. We encourage people to post it on social media with the tag #signsandsymbolspostcardproject. Each postcard will have a return address of the artist who is mailing it to you (not the gallery’s address). This is a direct exchange between you and the artist we have selected for you — once you receive your small artwork, the exchange can end there, although we welcome you to reply to the artist and strike up a socially-distanced exchange. If you choose to reply, it could be the genesis or foundation of a potentially ongoing exchange.
We are excited to launch this postcard project and explore its many possibilities. We plan to offer these postcards size works on our website through the global lockdown, as an opportunity for interpersonal connection via mail, and we may continue it even afterwards as it truly aligns with our belief in community and participation. We wanted it to be at a low price that everyone could afford and have something by our artists whom they otherwise may not have been able to afford. Our artists have shown us such love and generosity during these difficult times.
Snail mail is often overlooked these days, but right now it is one of the only ways to tangibly communicate with others. And since many borders have closed and art shipping services have been suspended, it's also one of the only ways to receive art during the global lockdown.
Some other special initiatives by our artists include:
A unique drawing by Tony Orrico, who is offering instructions to ***conduct your own at-home performance*** that yields 7 memories, specific to this moment in your life. Tony will hand draw a small tessellation of your memories in the manner of his ongoing series (Textile) and ship the drawing to your door; to mark this time, this effort, and your kind support.
Rachel Libeskind's special edition hand scan, released specifically for signs and symbols' online shop. hand scan exists purely in the digital realm — you can use it as a screensaver on your phone or computer. You may also translate it into the physical realm by printing at your own discretion (the file is formatted to be printed at 8.5 x 11 inches). You will receive a high resolution jpg file of Libeskind’s digital artwork along with a certificate of authenticity for your edition. We know that, in these uncertain times, many of our clients and supporters cannot commit to collecting artworks. Others simply don’t have remaining wall space. At the same time, every dollar contributes to maintaining our exhibition and performance space for our artists post-coronavirus. This digital edition is one of our special initiatives that will allow us to support our program and our artists during this time.
We are also offering a virtual performance / ephemeral experience by a signs and symbols performance artist. Truly ephemeral — this one-on-one, virtual performance experience is made specifically for the purchaser by a signs and symbols artist. This will be a new, unique work. The selected artist(s) will be a surprise, and we will contact you to set up a date and time for your virtual experience. As we adapt our program to virtual spaces, these private performances are one of our special initiatives that will allow us to support our program and our artists during this time.
Finally what is coming up soon (and very exciting!) – we will be releasing a few Special Editions of work by our artists for our shop. We will soon be releasing a special edition of 20 of a new photograph by Jen DeNike from her new seris “Visions of the Daughters”. Notably – since I was close to Ulay for many years and his practice informs and anchors the curatorial mission of signs and symbols, we are working closely with Ulay Foundation to release a Special Edition of Ulay’s work as an official collaboration in support of the gallery, Ulay Foundation, Bowery Mission and also in memory of Ulay who recently passed away (March 2, 2020) for our special initiatives. Ulay did a Polaroid project with the Bowery Mission in the 90s, his connection to that place feels particularly fitting for this since he was a supporter of the Mission and that it was a subject of his. More importantly, Ulay not only inspired the curatorial vision of signs and symbols, but also encouraged me to open a performance gallery. I am grateful to the Ulay Foundation for their support of signs and symbols during this difficult time.
Who can contribute and how?
Anyone can purchase a postcard! We started this project mainly for friends and family, but people from all over the world have since participated — Australia, Germany, Canada, Sweden, and others, including some countries most affected by coronavirus like Italy. It's amazing to see the far reach of our humble gallery in New York, and it's beautiful to see these new relationships forged across countries and cultures.
We encourage people to write back to their artist and strike up a socially-distanced exchange. We are excited and inspired by the possibility of fostering interpersonal connection even while we cannot gather together.
Beyond supporting the gallery and our artists, we are donating 10% of all sales to Bowery Mission, an organization that continues to serve the homeless and the hungry during this pandemic. Our gallery is located just a few blocks away in the Lower East Side, and it felt important to us to give back to our neighborhood.
Do you feel that the artistic community is effectively supported in this uncertain time?
We have received an outpouring of love and generosity over the past few weeks, and we have been so touched by our artists' unflinching support. I don't know how we would do this without their determination and encouragement.
We have witnessed support for one another within the arts community, particularly from the New Art Dealers Alliance and its member galleries. We will need support outside of our industry in order to fully recover from this crisis — currently, New York has not passed commercial or residential rent relief, and many arts institutions do not qualify for small business loans and COVID-19 assistance programs.
What are your hopes for the future?
We can't wait to return to our space and resume our exhibition program. Our 2020 schedule had intended to include solo exhibitions of Zander Blom, Drew Conrad, Tony Orrico and Ornella Fieres, and we do plan to pick up where we left off once we can safely re-open the gallery.
Of course we can't predict what the future holds, no one can… we are all in trouble more or less. I am just so grateful for the love and support of my artists. I am touched by our community and feel the collective stronger than ever. We are navigating this one day at a time as a collective, we were always close but this has defiantly brought the family of artists closer than ever before. We are leaning on each other for support, and we will fight together to ensure we survive as a gallery. I am hopeful, and feel that we will survive this together, stronger than ever. It is in times like this that you really realize the value of community, and the communities ability to sustain together. We need art to guide us, our hero’s and idols to guide us, for me that is our artists, my signs and symbols collective.
The response to our postcard project has been incredible so far, and I look forward to the day in a few years from now when we will sit together with our artists over bottles of wine and look back at this moment and remember how we saved the gallery through a pandemic with $35 postcards.
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