Open Call 2023 Group Exhibition
About this exhibition
The Open Call 2023 Group Exhibition features new artworks by emerging NYC artists who intersect their personal stories with global history, proposing care- and community-based responses to the urgent issues of our time. The exhibition presents the work of artists selected as part of Open Call, a large-scale commissioning program for early-career, NYC-based artists, and will be followed by a performance series in summer 2024.
The exhibition is organized by Eduardo Andres Alfonso, Associate Curator at Large, and Dejá Belardo, Assistant Curator, Visual Arts and Civic Programs, with exhibition management by MK Meador, Exhibition Producer, and Freddy Villalobos, Project Manager.
Artists
Learn more about the Artists and their Artworks
Exhibition Tours
Learn more with free, guided tours of the exhibition. Tours begin:
Fridays at 1, 4, and 7 pm
Saturdays at 12 and 3 pm
Tours are first come, first served with admission to the exhibition.
Public Programs
Join us for screenings, talks, and more with the Open Call artists. These public programs are included with free admission to the exhibition, first come, first served.
Past Public Programs
Appocalips: Poetry Reading, Screening, and Q&A
Friday, November 17, 6:30 pm
Level 2 Gallery
A full viewing of the film will be followed by a talkback/Q&A with artists Cathy Linh Che & Christopher Radcliff and cinematographer/coproducer Jess X. Snow
Book signing of An Asian American A to Z: A Children’s Guide to Our History
Friday, November 17, 8 pm
McNally Jackson at The Shed in The Doctoroff Lobby
A book signing with artist and author Cathy Linh Che followed by a small reception
A history of imperialistic practices and labor abuse
Saturday, November 18, 1 pm
Level 4 Overlook
A conversation with artist Luis A. Gutierrez, Dan La Botz, history and urban studies professor at Queens College, and Stephanie Luce, professor of labor studies at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, moderated by Associate Curator at Large Eduardo Andres Alfonso
To The Hand: Reclaiming the Benin Bronzes with AI
Saturday, November 18, 4 pm
Level 4 Overlook
A dialogue with artist Minne Atairu and Assistant Professor of Arts Administration at Teachers College, Columbia University Dr. Davinia Gregory-Kameka, moderated by Associate Curator at Large Eduardo Andres Alfonso
Quiénes Somos
Friday, December 8, 6:30 pm
Level 2 Gallery
A tour with artist Bryan Fernandez, followed by a Q&A with the artist and Yelaine Rodriguez, an Afro-Dominican New York artistic scholar, educator, and independent curator
Living in an Attention Economy
Saturday, December 9, 1 pm
Level 2 Gallery
Artist Jake Brush, along with collaborator Sydney Fishman, will give a talk (30 – 45 minutes) presenting past work samples, reference material, and found text that inspired his Open Call project.
It’s Fitting: a public ecdysis (ek-duh-seez)
Friday, January 12, 6:30 pm
Level 2 Gallery
Garment fitting and conversation with Open Call artist Calli Roche and artist and patternmaker Destiny Brundidge, moderated by exhibition co-organizer Dejá Belardo
Palenque Reprise
Friday, January 19, 6 pm
Level 2 Gallery
Performance and activation of Armando Guadalupe Cortés’s artwork Palenque followed by a Q&A with the artist. Cortés will enter the space/center of the palenque structure. From there they will lead a talk/performance. The talk/conversation will reference past works and sources of inspiration while touching on themes of movement across land and time (both personal and historical), violence, masculinity, spectacle, celebration, death, and time and projection.
Self Care Saturday
Saturday, January 20, 1:30 pm
Level 4 Overlook
Hatha yoga led by interdisciplinary artist and yoga instructor Mónica Félix followed by an artist’s talk with Open Call artist Jeffrey Meris
Mónica Félix (she / her, b. 1984) is an interdisciplinary artist, professional photographer, and yoga asana teacher born and raised in Puerto Rico. She has a BA in communications from the University of Puerto Rico, a photography certificate from Pratt Institute, and a visual arts MFA from Columbia University. She intersects her visual arts practice with her yoga practice into a holistic way of living, where mindfulness is a constant grasp and breath is the key to the sacred space within.
Happening: Evidence 071
Saturday, January 20, 2:30 pm
Level 2 Gallery
As part of Investigation of the Dominican Racial Imaginary, participatory artist and designer Lizania Cruz will reveal a selection of the archival evidence for her Open Call project, Evidence 071: Frederick Douglass and The Commission of Inquiry, and invite the audience to discuss and vote if the revealed material is of importance.
Cruz’s ongoing work The Investigation of the Dominican Racial Imaginary is a participatory research-based project that shows the ways in which the nation-state of the Dominican Republic has erased and repressed African heritage in the Dominican imaginary.
Freedom Is Not a Metaphor
Saturday, January 20, 4 pm
Level 4 Overlook
Artist Sandy Williams IV will share a presentation on their 40 ACRES Archive followed by a live drum performance by percussionist Chief Baba Neil Clarke in partnership with the Weeksville Heritage Center.
Reimagining and Celebrating the Black Archives: From Samaná to the Americas
Sunday, January 21, 12 pm
Level 4 Overlook
An interdisciplinary panel discussion, exploration, and re-imagining of the archives of Samaná with scholars, archivists, and artists Sophia Monegro, Jhensen Ortiz, and Lizania Cruz, who will be joined in discussion by moderator Ryan Mann-Hamilton
Unapologetically, Para Siempre
Sunday, January 21, 3 pm
Level 4 Overlook
In collaboration with Bryan Fernandez, the CUNY DSI Orchestra presents a concert of jazz-tinged típico music inspired by New York–based Dominican bands, such as accordionist Angel Viloria’s group, and merengues written by the great Dominican composer Rafael Petitón. Led by CUNY DSI’s distinguished research professor Dr. Paul Austerlitz the band performs original interpretations of the music featured on the Institute’s website, A History of Dominican Music in the United States.
Sunday, January 21, 5 pm
Level 4 Overlook
An hour of music with DJs, Kilo Seve, DJ Kyros, Vivo Mori, and Srebbie closing out the Open Call 2023 Gallery Exhibition public programs
Exhibition Guide
Guía de exhibición
Location and dates
November 4, 2023 – January 21, 2024
Gallery Hours
Wednesday – Thursday: 12 – 7 pm
Friday: 12 – 8 pm
Saturday: 11 am – 7 pm
Sunday: 11 am – 6 pm
Exhibition Tours
Fridays at 1, 4, and 7 pm
Saturdays at 12 and 3 pm
The Shed is located at 545 West 30th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. View The Shed on a map.
Accessibility
The Shed’s Level 2 Gallery is wheelchair accessible. Assistive listening and captions for video artworks will be available from Access Kit on your smartphone via a QR code on the gallery labels. To learn more about what to expect during your gallery visit, please read this description.
To prepare for your visit, download this PDF visual guide to The Shed and Open Call.
If you have any questions or requests, please email info@theshed.org or call (646) 455-3494. For information about accessibility and arriving at The Shed, visit our Accessibility page.
What to Expect
Thank you for planning a visit to The Shed. We’re looking forward to welcoming you for Open Call. The Open Call 2023 Group Exhibition takes place in the Level 2 Gallery, which is wheelchair accessible.
You can enter our building through The Doctoroff Lobby at 545 West 30th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. The nearby 34 St–Hudson Yards subway station is serviced by elevators. As you arrive at The Shed, you will enter The Doctoroff Lobby through two sets of wide doors. There is an accessible push button door at this entrance. There are no steps leading into the building.
The Doctoroff Lobby is a wide space loosely divided into three sections. The center of The Doctoroff Lobby is open, with a staff member seated at a desk to greet you. To your left you will find the ticketing desk and bookshop. To your right, you will find the bar Cedric’s, which has a variety of seating options, from a table with wooden chairs, to a bar with barstools, to lower couches. Before a performance or in the evenings, Cedric’s can sometimes be crowded and noisy with guests, but during the day it often offers a calm atmosphere with low music. Restrooms are located in the back left corner, behind Cedric’s. An elevator is in the opposite corner behind the ticketing desk. The upper levels can also be reached by way of escalators, found behind a glass wall running along the back of the space.
The Open Call 2023 Gallery Exhibition is in the Level 2 Gallery. You can reach Level 2 by using the elevator or escalators. The escalator landing outside the gallery on Level 2 is filled with bright, natural light. A staff member will greet you at the entrance to the exhibition, and can help open the door to the gallery if you’d like some help.
The floor of the escalator landing is level with the floor of the Level 2 Gallery, so you won’t have to navigate any steps when entering. The gallery will have lower light than in the hallway. There will be some sound coming from three video installations in the gallery, to your right when you enter the exhibition, but the volume is not designed to be overwhelming.
With the exception of two artworks, all of the works are presented in an open space without walls. Cathy Linh Che and Christopher Radcliff’s video installation to the right of the entrance is curtained off with heavy black drapes, with two unobstructed entrances on either side. A smaller breakout space is accessed through two wide unobstructed entrances at the back of the gallery. This space holds Lizania Cruz’s installation and is full of natural light from floor-to-ceiling windows.
There are benches throughout the gallery if you’d like to sit for a moment. A visitor experience staff member can help you find one.
There are several access points you may want to anticipate:
- Large-print object labels for each work in English and Spanish are available from a staff member at the entrance to the gallery.
- Video works by Jake Brush and Sandy Williams IV include assistive listening and accessible captions from Access Kit on your smartphone via a QR code on the gallery labels.
- A video work by Cathy Linh Che and Christopher Radcliff includes assistive listening from Access Kit on your smartphone via a QR code on the gallery label. (Open captions are included on screen.)
- Che and Radcliff’s film includes strobe effects. The film is presented on three screens, all along one curtain wall in front of the benches.
- Lizania Cruz and Sandy Williams IV’s installations include free, takeaway prints that are stacked in low stacks on the floor.
For any additional access needs or requests, please email info@theshed.org or call (646) 455-3494.
About Open Call
The third edition of Open Call is organized by Tamara McCaw, Chief Civic Program Officer, and Darren Biggart, Director of Civic Programs, with Eduardo Andres Alfonso, Associate Curator at Large, and Dejá Belardo, Assistant Curator, Visual Arts and Civic Programs. The exhibition is produced by MK Meador, Exhibition Producer, and Freddy Villalobos, Project Manager.
The program was conceived by The Shed’s Artistic Director Alex Poots; Tamara McCaw; Emma Enderby, former Chief Curator; and Senior Program Advisor Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Special thanks to former program team colleagues who facilitated the third edition’s call for proposals and selection process: Solana Chehtman, Sarah Khalid Dhobhany, Alessandra Gómez, and Andria Hickey.
Thank you to our partners
Additional support for Open Call is provided by Warner Bros. Discovery 150, The Wescustogo Foundation, and Jody and John Arnhold | Arnhold Foundation.
The creation of new work at The Shed is generously supported by the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Commissioning Fund and the Shed Commissioners.