Art galleries are unique and never the same, similar to fingerprints. You may walk into galleries and they might remind you of other galleries but not one of them is the same. A traditional gallery setup is white walls, wood floors, and artificial light. This gives the appearance of a “white cube” according to O’Doherty. Unique galleries have colored walls and different types of flooring. These different types of galleries have an impact on how a viewer experiences an individual’s work.

My classmates and I were scheduled to adventure up and down 22nd Street. Our first stop was 535 West 22nd Street where we admired DC Moore’s gallery. Yvonne Jacquette was one of the few artists featured in this gallery. Jacquette’s beautiful works showed different aspects of New York. Her exhibit was entitled “Daytime New York” and some of her featured works were, “Brooklyn Bridge View with Double Water Towers”, “Composite of Eventi Hotel Views II”, and “Three Ages of Construction II”. In this gallery the walls are white, the floor is wooden, and there are lights centered onto the artworks. This construction of the gallery is similar to O’Doherty’s description of the “white cube”. The white walls allowed me to appreciate all the colors in the artwork. I enjoyed looking at the water in “Brooklyn Bridge View with Double Water Towers” because the dark blue color illustrated the ripples in the ocean and really grabbed my attention. The space between the paintings also allowed me to appreciate each one individually before stepping back and seeing how all of them relate to the New York environment. There was a spotlight on each painting and shade in the empty space between the paintings. This gallery did a successful job in attracting the viewers’ attention toward the artworks.

During our experience on 22nd Street we also encountered a gallery that was unique from the others. Most galleries followed the recipe to look like a “white cube” but there was an outlier. The Joanne Artman Gallery, located on 511 A West 22nd Street, was a refreshing gallery to walk into. This gallery called their exhibit “TheWildBunch” and had works from Billy Schenck and Greg Miller. This gallery had a theme of the wild west which was obvious from their paintings and decorative choices. Some artworks that represented the theme are, “2 Feathers in Violet and Beige”, “Man with Blanket”, and “Woman Outlaws”. This gallery was unique because of the yellow wall, yellow couch, black pipes, and natural light. The natural lighting was the necessary amount to fill the entire room due to the small size of the gallery. I believe the size of the gallery plays a role in the decision on how it is structured. The gallery wants to push forward the theme and show off the artworks. The yellow wall fits the theme of the wild west and I think it maximizes the space to its fullest potential. The uniqueness of the gallery was appreciated and I believe the clear windows drew audiences in. I think that this strategy is bold and can work with certain artworks and spaces.

The way in which a gallery is created affects how the audience views the artwork. A “white cube” environment allows the audience to focus on individual paintings and admire their excellence. However, these galleries tend to blend in with other galleries and do not stand out. Unique and different galleries are enjoyable and can help promote a theme. They can also become overwhelming and cause the audience to overlook certain artworks. Both environments can work but I believe its effectiveness depends on what artwork is being displayed.