That Painting Means "For Rent"

People are saying that the contemporary galleries that colonized the gritty streets of West Chelsea in the '90s are going to be pushed out by skyrocketing rent. Instead of white cube after white cube, they imagine we'll see more and more high-rise luxury condos go up in a neighborhood that was once "home" to only hookers and dealers (of drugs).

Ironically, it's this post-gallery district Chelsea where you may see Smartspaces.org, a non-profit that aims to mount exhibitions of contemporary art in windows of vacant properties in Manhattan &mdash including, potentially, those of the sleek and sexy apartment buildings multiplying at an alarming rate in the West 20s between 10th and 11th Avenues. A network of curators will select work from a network of artists and put together shows quickly as a network of landlords notifies the non-profit of empty buildings. Artists get to showcase their work, property owners get to advertise available real estate with something more interesting (and trendy) than a "For Rent" sign, and the community gets a storefront show. "Space in New York is so valuable," says Ellen Scott, Executive Director of the non-profit. "It shouldn't be wasted like that."

To date, Smartspaces.org has recruited curators, such as Ana Finel Honigman (the Senior London Correspondent for the Saatchi Gallery's online magazine and a candidate for a Ph.D. in art history at Oxford), and artists, such as Sara White Wilson, Vilem Benes, Sam Herzlinger, Erik Hagerman, and Grant Innes, but it doesn't have any property owners on board just yet. The organization is still trying to wrangle a tax deduction for landlords who participate in its vision.

Assuming the non-profit puts this last piece of the puzzle in place, watch out for the first Smartspace in March or April.

Grant Innes, Yellow I'll Take Manhattan

Grant Innes, Pink Prayer at Valley Forge

Sara White Wilson, Déclaration des Droits de The Gap et du The Louvre

Sam Herzlinger