Smack Mellon is a mission-based institution whose goal is to nurture and support emerging, under-recognized mid-career and women artists in the creation and exhibition of new work. The organization honors this mission by focusing support on NYC-based artists who have traditionally faced barriers to institutional and commercial opportunities. Smack Mellon is driven by their values of artistic exploration, experimentation, and risk-taking. With 6000 square feet of gallery space, it provides exhibition opportunities, studio space for 12 resident artists, and access to equipment and extensive technical assistance for the realization of ambitious projects. Smack Mellon is a platform where under-represented artists can create, explore and exhibit their creative ideas outside the concerns of the commercial art world, offering many artists the exposure and recognition they deserve.
Smack Mellon
Installation view, Jessica Segall, Human Energy, 2023. Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo by Etienne Frossard.
Installation view, 10 Billion Barrels, 2023. Curated by Rachel Vera Steinberg and Zanete Liekite in collaboration with Jessica Segall. Featuring artists dean erdmann, fields harrington, Rebecca Shapass. Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo by Etienne Frossard.
Installation view, Anne Wu, There Is No Far and No Near, 2023-24. Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo by Etienne Frossard.
Installation view, Frank WANG Yefeng, The House of the Solitary, 2023-24. Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo by Etienne Frossard.
Installation view, Mo Kong, Swift Island Chain, 2024. Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo by Etienne Frossard.
Installation view, Sunny Leerasanthanah, This is as far as I can take you, 2024. Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo by Etienne Frossard
Workloop, a performance activation of Mo Kong, Swift Island Chain by Fiel Guhit and Tianyi Sun, 2024. Courtesy of the Artists. Photos by Xianfan Zhu.
2023-24 Studio Artists Gara Lonning, Itzel Basualdo, Kyong eun Kang, Madjeen Issac, mujero, and Yuchen Chang. Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo by Etienne Frossard.
See Also
“The Warhol Foundation aims to support the full range of artistic activity in America—from exhibitions at major museums to neighborhood projects by artist collectives. Arts writers, through the range and specialization of their individual interests, touch upon all of this activity—illuminating and interrogating it and bringing it into conversation with the public. Support for artists is not complete without support for the circulation and serious consideration of their ideas. The Arts Writers Grant program keeps artists at the center of cultural dialogue and debate—in our opinion, right where they belong.”
Joel Wachs, President