New Public Space for Public Art Resulted in Special Collaboration with SUNY College of Optometry

The Neuberger Museum of Art announced that it will open a new public space for public art, Neuberger Museum of Art SPACE | 42, located on the ground floor of 33 West 42nd Street in Manhattan, the recently renovated historic building occupied by SUNY College of Optometry. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the new space will take place on Thursday, October 20 at 5 pm.  Neuberger Museum of Art  SPACE | 42 will be free and accessible to the public and will feature changing exhibitions by established and emerging artists.

The inaugural exhibition, Deborah Kass: Day After Day is organized by the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, SUNY, and is curated by Helaine Posner, Chief Curator. Day After Day, by Deborah Kass, is a large-scale, site-specific digital print, commissioned by the Neuberger Museum of Art for SPACE I 42,  the artist's first wallpaper work, inspired, in part, by Warhol’s signature Cow (1966) and Mao (1974) wallpaper, and marks an exciting new direction in her practice.  It is based on one of the artist’s favorite paintings, a 2010 canvas from her series more! feel good paintings for feel bad times, that is in the Neuberger’s permanent collection.  

According to Kass, “The idea for it began with the Stephen Sondheim song, ‘Not a Day Goes By.’ I made it during the big BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which was on the news everyday at the time. . . . The color panels I used were a reference to Ellsworth Kelly, whose work I love. I used a stencil from a hardware store for the type, which some might say is in the style of Jasper Johns, but he’s another favorite artist of mine, so it’s ok.”

 According to Tracy Fitzpatrick, Director of the Neuberger Museum of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art SPACE | 42 aligns perfectly with the vision of the museum’s founding patron Roy Neuberger, one of America’s foremost art patrons and philanthropists, to support and encourage the work of living artists. “The new space is intended to spark community engagement and dialogue, and to be accessible to all,” she says. “By expanding our reach from our original site on the campus of Purchase College, SUNY, in Westchester County into the heart of New York City, we broaden our community and further expose the New York City public to imaginative public art, thought, and dialogue.” 

Purchase College president Thomas J. Schwarz commented, "We are pleased to celebrate the opening of Neuberger Museum of Art's SPACE | 42 in New York City.  Located in the SUNY College of Optometry in the heart of the city, this gallery will enable us to share innovative contemporary art projects, curated by our world-class museum, with visitors from around the world. We're grateful to our colleagues at the SUNY College of Optometry for making this collaboration possible." In 2008, the Museum entered into a special collaboration with the SUNY College of Optometry in Manhattan to afford the Museum exhibition space on the ground floor of the College’s historic building. At the time, the positive collaboration between SUNY campuses was lauded for its potential to “create a distinctive environment for SUNY College of Optometry programs, while providing the Neuberger Museum of Art and Purchase College with additional visibility and programming in New York City.”

Dr. Fitzpatrick added: “The Neuberger’s critically acclaimed exhibitions and wealth of educational tours, lectures, and interactional programs engage the many parts of the museum’s broad community. The Neuberger is a center of teaching and learning for all stages of life. With the opening of Neuberger Museum of Art SPACE | 42, the Museum is more active and vibrant than ever.”  

Neuberger Museum of Art SPACE | 42 is located on the ground floor of 33 West 42nd Street (across from Bryant Park) in Manhattan. It is open to the public daily:

Monday-Friday, 9 am–5 pm

Saturday, 9 am–4 pm

Sunday, 10 am–6 pm