The New York gallery Ortuzar Projects is moving to 5 White Street, art news reports. The TriBeCa building, which housed the nonprofit artists’ space between 1984 and 1993, sits on the southeast corner of White and West Broadway and allows visitors to enter from either street . The move is just a simple step for Ortuzar Projects, which has occupied 9 White Street since its 2018 inauguration. At 10,000 square feet, however, the new digs are about three times the size of the current 2,600 square foot gallery space. Designed by Caplan Colaku Architecture, who designed the current home at 11 Cortlandt Alley of Artists Space, the new gallery will allow Ortuzar Projects to host multiple exhibitions simultaneously.
Ales Ortzuar, former David Zwirner dealer, opened Ortuzar Projects with the aim of promoting international artists of the 20th and 21st centuries who are underrepresented in the canon of art history. The gallery’s initial two-year schedule aimed to give these artists “enduring and expanded visibility through exhibitions and the publication of important scholarly catalogues”. Among the remarkable exhibitions organized by Ortuzar Projects are those of Andre Cadere, renowned for its smooth, painted round wooden bars; June Leaf, known for her allegorical paintings and modernist kinetic sculptures, and Joaquin Torres-García, considered the father of Latin American constructivism. In 2022, alongside Andrew Kreps Gallery, Ortuzar Projects secured the rights to represent the estate of the recently rediscovered and highly sought after athlete-turned-painter Ernie Barnes (1938–2009). “Sugar Shack”, an exhibition of works by Barnes, will open the new gallery space.
“We have been very pleased with the response to our program from collectors, curators and, most importantly, artists since we opened our doors on White Street five years ago,” Ortuzar said. “Our expanded space, right next to our original gallery in the heart of Tribeca’s gallery district, prepares us for our next chapter of advocating for artists who deserve greater exposure in New York City.”
