In a world of commercially motivated trend manufacturing, Lia Gangitano has been a fearless dissenter. Starting out with a decade-long stint as associate curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, where her Boston School show brought to prominence a generation of photographers including Nan Goldin, David Armstrong and Jack Pierson, Gangitano made an indelible mark in New York as the curator of Thread Waxing Space for the last four years. When Thread Waxing closed last summer, the void it left -- not simply for non-commercial visual artists, but countless musicians, video- and filmmakers, performance artists and writers who rarely get the serious attention that a major alternative space provides -- seemed impossible ever to fill.
But Gangitano, who remains as dedicated as ever to bringing iconoclastic voices to our attention, has lost no time in creating a worthy successor. Opening its doors this spring, Participant Inc. (95 Rivington St., between Ludlow and Orchard) will play home to all manner of creative endeavors, and will surely be as singular a voice for an expanded definition of art as this town has ever known. Alternative spaces "have become diluted," she explains. "Now that it has become more lucrative to have corporate sponsors, and art has become a viable commodity, the original agenda of alternative spaces is relevant again." With poet Eileen Myles running a literary series and plans for a diverse exhibition slate (including Virgil Marti and Charles Atlas), Gangitano promises us "work without any outside filters or censorship." No doubt, she'll deliver.
Carlo McCormick
Lia wears a top by H&M, vest and skirt by Marc Jacobs.
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