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Williamsburg is turning into a true destination spot for art excursions. A host of sleek and shiny contemporary galleries in the area tap into the neighborhood's pre-gentrification legacy of acting as a haven for emerging artists. A new strong addition to the rise in gallery spaces comes this week in the form of Amant Gallery, which bills itself as an “art campus.”
Located in East Williamsburg, on 315 Maujer Street, the vast 21,000-square-foot space aims to support “both established and under-recognized artists” working across disciplines of art. Case in point: The space’s premiere show is the first-ever US exhibition of Grada Kilomba, a Berlin-based artist of West African descent. Titled “Heroines, Birds, and Monsters,” the show aligns with art’s larger reckoning around race and diversity recently and is a product of the artist internal wrestling around the legacies of colonization.
Amant Gallery will also provide critical support to international artists through hosting residency programs throughout the year—with three iterations occurring in the fall, winter and spring. The residencies will provide a select group of artists with access to studios and performance spaces (for rehearsals) and a monthly stipend of $3,000. The twelve artists for the inaugural 2021-2022 season have already been chosen, selected from a pool of over 1300 applicants from around the world.
The team behind Amant are well aware they are arriving when artists—and the art field in general—are in critical need of support.
“At a time when New York is still reeling from the pandemic, Amant wants to stress the importance of human relations,” says artistic director Ruth Estévez. “We want to provide more opportunities seed long-term cohesion between artists and audiences, supporting a tissue of intellect, creative, and emotional togetherness.”
You can find out more information about the exciting addition to East Williamsburg and the exhibition “Heroines, Birds, and Monsters,” on view through October, here.