Behind the Black Door: Tales from 51X

Right place at right time. By 1980 the East Village in NYC was the place to be for most up and coming artists, musicians and writers all gathered there. Making it the new hot spot and becoming the talk of the town! Saint Marks Place was the street considered to be the center of the new scene. On any given day walking around the neighborhood you would see people  like Keith Haring, David Wojnarowicz, Joe Strummer, Joey Ramone, Tama Janowitz, Rene Ricard, Patti Astor to name a few. This became our inspiration and main reason we decided to look in...

In 1981 Rich Colicchio and Ed Kurpell rented an abandoned storefront located on 51 St Marks place in NYC and 51X was born. After graduating from The School of Visual Arts in 1980 I faced the usual dilemma as an Artist getting exposure and my work shown. It seemed almost impossible to achieve with the current Soho and 57th St Gallery system. Influenced by ABC No Rio, Club 57, and Fashion Moda I decided to do it myself and open an artists run studio/gallery in an East Village storefront. 51X has the distinction of being the first artist run gallery in...