Art talk in the Superchief Gallery NFT.
NYC photog exhibits NFT
at Superchief Gallery
BY BOB KRASNER
Visual artist/curator Savannah Spirit has been
there and done that, but until recently there
were two things that she could not claim: producing
an NFT and exhibiting in the ‘Every Woman
Biennial,” currently at the Superchief Gallery NFT.
“I just dropped my “genesis piece!” she exclaims, using
the favored reference for a fi rst time with “Non-Fungible
Token,” a digital artwork that we would explain further
if we had the space (luckily, you can Google it). Spirit
was thrilled that it landed in an exhibition as special as
the EWB, a group effort that EWB Managing Director
Molly Caldwell calls ”an egalitarian show for women and
non-binary artists. We are an all-volunteer organization
that believes in women helping women, sharing the love
and helping artists to share their art.”
Founded in 2014 by artist C. Finley as the “Whitney
Houston Biennial” – a reaction to the Whitney Museum’s
lack of female presence in its biennial show – the show
has become a celebration of non-male art and the latest
edition had an opening that was kicked off in high style
by a “fl ash mob” dance party in Washington Square
Park, a few blocks away from the gallery. Under the
direction of choreographer Natalie Lomonte, nine dancers
(including Lomonte) with varying backgrounds —
broadway, fl amenco, opera, music video, etc. — had a
blast performing their routine alongside (and on) the
PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER
edge of the fountain to Ms. Houston’s classic “My Love
is Your Love.” It turned into a free-form dance party
with tunes such as “I’m Every Woman” and “Dancing
Queen” inspiring the sizable crowd to let loose.
“It was our gift to the city,” explained Lomonte. “We
wanted to share the love and joy.”
The “Divine Dance Party,” as she called it, continued
out of the park and up Fifth Avenue to the gallery on
East 11th St., where the show featured the work of 300
artists rotating on backlit screens in a dark room with
accompanying QR scans to provide artist info.
Ed Zipco, director and co-founder of the Superchief
Gallery, is “incredibly proud to bring hundreds of
female-identifying artists of all ages to the NFT space.”
(The age range of the artists is 19 – 93 years old.) He
said that he wants to “truly thank EWB for doing the
important work of bringing this community together
again and trusting us with their vision.”
More than just a chance for artists to show their work,
the NFT end of things has been a learning experience
for both the contributors and the organizers.
“It was new to me,” Caldwell admitted, “but now I
know a lot more about it. Many of the artists, at fi rst,
didn’t understand the NFT and had a lot of technical
questions. We taught them how to mint their work and
Opening night of the Every Woman Biennial at
the Superchief Gallery NFT.
the artists have been grateful to learn the process of a
new art form.”
Spirit’s piece “A.I. Love,” which comments on the
nature of dating after the pandemic, began its gestation
a few years ago but she reveals that she “didn’t know
what I was creating it for.” After being chosen from an
open call to participate in the EWB, Spirit revisited the
raw work and brought it up to date to its current state.
Her learning curve also brought the knowledge that
“NFT’s have been dominated by men. This is the fi rst
huge collection of NFT’s by women and non-binary artists.
It’s groundbreaking in that way and there’s some
amazingly strong work in the show.”
Despite some technical diffi culties – which have since
been remedied – Caldwell loved the opening night. “It
was such a joyous celebration of art and artists,” she said.
“And we are so happy to have facilitated that.”
Every Woman Biennial info:
http://2021.everywomanbiennial.com/
Gallery info: http://www.superchiefgallerynft.com/
Natalie Lomonte, choreographer, with her crew.
Schneps Media July 1, 2021 13
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