This groundbreaking book–part exhibition catalogue, part\ncultural history–chronicles alternative art spaces in New York\nCity since the 1960s. Developed from an exhibition of the same name\nat Exit Art, Alternative Histories documents more than 130\nalternative spaces, groups, and projects, and the significant\ncontributions these organizations have made to the aesthetic and\nsocial fabric of New York City. Alternative art spaces offer sites\nfor experimentation for artists to innovate, perform, and exhibit\noutside the commercial gallery-and-museum circuit. In New York\nCity, the development of alternative spaces was almost synonymous\nwith the rise of the contemporary art scene. Beginning in the 1960s\nand early 1970s, it was within a network of alternative\nsites–including 112 Greene Street, The Kitchen, P.S.1, FOOD, and\nmany others–that the work of young artists like Yvonne Rainer,\nVito Acconci, Gordon Matta-Clark, Ana Mendieta, David Wojnarowicz,\nDavid Hammons, Adrian Piper, Martin Wong, Jimmie Durham, and dozens\nof other now familiar names first circulated.

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Through interviews, photographs, essays, and archival material,\n_Alternative Histories_ tells the story of such famous sites\nand organizations as Judson Memorial Church, Anthology Film\nArchives, A.I.R. Gallery, El Museo del Barrio, Franklin Furnace,\nand Eyebeam, as well as many less well-known sites and\norganizations. Essays by the exhibition curators and scholars, and\nexcerpts of interviews with alternative space founders and staff,\nprovide cultural and historical context.

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