Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA), a non-profit arts organization founded in 1963 by Jasper Johns and John Cage that provides grants to artists, has opened its first exhibition in New York's Meatpacking District. Curated by artist Rachel Foullon, “Six Doors” marks the inauguration of the new project space at FCA called the Other Room. This first exhibition features a single work by six artists: Trisha Donnelly, Andrea Longacre-White, Alex Robbins, Melanie Schiff, Marianne Vitale, and Mary Weatherford.

The Other Room is a 496-square-foot space located adjacent to the Foundation’s office, literally, the “other room.” In keeping with FCA’s mission to support artists, the artists on the Board will invite artists to organize exhibitions and events, resulting in programming that is truly artist-led. Conceived in a spirit of broadening the Foundation’s community, the Other Room is designed to offer curatorial and exhibition opportunities to artists.

“Six Doors” presents six disparate artworks, none of which offer literal depictions of such architecture or passageways, but under this contextual “spell” may be interpreted as doors, whether open or closed, portals, or barriers. Trisha Donnelly’s Let’em (2005) is a newly minted digital print, wherein the conceptual rubric permits the curator to choose the dimensions. Andrea Longacre-White has created a site-specific work entitled Dark Corner (2015), a rectangle of black liquid latex and lubricant applied directly to the brick walls in one of the Other Room’s corners. Laid directly on the floor, Alex Robbins’ The New International Atlas (2010) is a hand-carved block of purpleheart wood, silkscreened and painted in a trompe l’oeil recreation of an actual worn and tattered reference book. In Shroud (2014), Melanie Schiff captures errant sunlight piercing through a piece of torn black cloth. Marianne Vitale’s Joint Fence (for Jasper) (2015) is a new, largescale sculpture composed of forged steel joint bars from railroad tracks mounted into heavyset wooden beams creating a fence that dramatically divides the gallery. In Midnight Union Ave. (2012), Mary Weatherford’s painting on linen evokes a dark and foreboding space illuminated by a stroke of neon light.

For 52 years, FCA’s mission has been to encourage, sponsor, and promote innovative work in the arts created and presented by individuals, groups, and organizations. Its legacy continues today with unrestricted, by-nomination grants supporting pioneering work across the fields of dance, music/sound, performance art/theater, poetry, and the visual arts. In addition to vital financial assistance, grantees receive the inestimable encouragement that comes with recognition by their peers. A fund is also maintained to assist artists with emergencies and unexpected opportunities related to their work. More than 2,500 grants awarded to artists and arts organizations—totaling over $11 million—have provided opportunities for creative exploration and development.

The current Directors of the Foundation are: Brooke Alexander, Cecily Brown, Robert Gober, Anne Dias Griffin, Agnes Gund, Jasper Johns, Julian Lethbridge, Glenn Ligon, Kara Walker, and T.J. Wilcox. “Six Doors” will be on view at the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, 820 Greenwich Street, New York, from Tuesday, May 19, 2015 through Friday, August 7, 2015. Hours: Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.  Special Saturday Hours: May 30 and June 13, 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The Foundation is closed May 25 and July 3.