ACA Galleries

ACA Galleries is thrilled to present “Chelsea Hotel Portraits” the first public presentation of photographer Tony Notarberardino’s iconic black and white portraits of the extraordinary individuals drawn to The Chelsea Hotel, shot over the course of the past 25 years. Raised in Melbourne by Italian emigrant parents, Notarberardino arrived at The Chelsea Hotel in 1994, and never left. A New York City landmark, built in 1884 this Victorian Gothic building on West 23rd Street was one of the few remaining bohemian refuges in a fast and ever-changing city, and played host to legendary artistic collaborations, boundary-breaking performances, and so much more. The unique characters that both lived in and frequented the hotel inspired Notarberardino to begin capturing portraits. The photographer recounts the moment the series came to life: “At 4am one night in September 1997, I was inside the Chelsea Hotel elevator returning home when suddenly a hand adorned with long, painted fingernails blocked it from closing. In walked an aged drag queen carrying more shopping bags than she could manage while holding the hand of a six-year-old boy. After four years of letting these moments pass by, I introduced myself and asked if I could photograph her. Without hesitation, she agreed.” Notarberardino’s portrait series captures the atmosphere of authenticity by documenting the remarkably rich visual cast of characters that pass through the hotel's doors daily. He photographs all portraits with a large format 8X10 black and white film on his vintage 1960s Toyo-View 810GII in the hallway of his apartment, the former residence of Australian artist Vali Myers. From counter cultural icons to the lesser known, the series stands as a definitive document of the people who made the landmark so unique, leaving audiences with a last glimpse of the subterranean romance of The Chelsea Hotel. Notarberardino has documented over 1500 portraits, including: Arthur. C. Clarke, Dee Dee Ramone, Sam Shepard, Grace Jones, Elias Jose Reranos, Abel Ferrara, Storme Delarverie, Victor Bockris, Rose Wood, Stephen Baldwin, Debbie Harry, Frank Roth, Mary Ellen Mark, Arnold Weinstein, Ron Jeremy, Amanda Lepore, Shalom Harlow, Peter Sarsgaard, Susan Bartsch, Selinie Luna, Ira Cohen, Lola Schnabel, Dirty Martini, Maria Beatty, Bruce Levingston, and Stanley Bard.

ACA Galleries is pleased to present an exhibition of Richard Hambleton’s work that will offer a new recontextualization of his famed street art practice. Opening on January 27, the show will reframe the artist’s legacy by locating his work within the context of the broader Abstract Expressionist movement that inspired him. This exhibition will include paintings and works on paper by Richard Hambleton, alongside works by leading figures of the Abstract Expressionist movement, including Franz Kline, Theodoros Stamos and Ad Reinhardt.

ACA Galleries is pleased to present “Beyond the Spiral,” an exhibition featuring artists from the legendary Spiral Group and the ways their artwork and production were influenced by their brief association. Active from 1963 to 1965, The Spiral Group was a New York–based African American artists’ collective founded by Charles Alston, Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, and Hale Woodruff who proposed the name. The Archimedean Spiral is an inclusive circular form which moves outward and upward. It symbolized the group’s common goals to further advance their careers and contribute to the Civil Rights Movement while retaining their artistic individuality.

ACA Galleries is pleased to present “Kandy G Lopez: Situational Identity, New Works in Fiber,” the first New York solo exhibition by Lopez, who is now represented by the gallery. This exhibition also marks the inaugural show in the gallery’s new second location at 173 Tenth Avenue (20th Street) in Chelsea. As a multi-media Afro-Caribbean American portrait artist, Lopez explores identity through marginalized individuals who represent her community. Navigating through her own identity has inspired works from a variety of mediums to further the conversation of “otherness” with metaphorical and psychological significance. “This exhibition is influenced by Ginetta Candelario’s essay entitled Black behind my Ears: Dominican Racial Identity from Museums to Beauty Shops,” shares Lopez. “According to the text, hair for Dominicans is a signifier for ancestry, race, class, and gender. Hair characteristics and style tell us a lot about a person and determines privileges along with the preferred look of ‘Hispanic’— European + African = ideal beauty. Complicating the matter further, once Dominicans come to the US, their skin color puts them in a new classification of otherness. Depending on the situation, immigrants and many minorities in this country switch roles, and their identity becomes situational.” Kandy G Lopez (b. New Jersey) lives and works in Fort Lauderdale. Selected solo exhibitions include “(in)visibility: cache,” NSU Art Museum of Fort Lauderdale (2023); “Phenomenal Woman,” Miramar Cultural Center (2023); “Intersectionality”, Coral Spring Museum of Art (2023); “(in)visible: Code-Switching,” Girls Club Warehouse, Fort Lauderdale (2022); “(in)visibility: Yup-Pity,” Frank C Ortis Gallery (Third Space), Pembroke Pines (2022). Lopez’s work has been included in group exhibitions at Kinfolk House, Armory Art Center, New Bedford Art Museum, and Studio 18. Lopez received the Broward County Cultural Division Artist Innovation Grant for 2022–2023 and the Project Row House Grant in 2022. She has also been awarded residencies at Nacan in the Dominican Republic (2023), Ucross in Wyoming (2022), Hambidge in Rabun County, Georgia (2021), and Stay Home Gallery & Artist Residency in Paris, Tennessee (2021).

ACA Galleries is pleased to present a solo exhibition of the legendary PHASE 2 (1955- 2019) and celebrates his extraordinary contributions to hip-hop and contemporary urban culture. Throughout his life he evolved and explored his craft through a multiplicity of forms from painting, assemblage, collage, sculpture, design, drawing, custom vinyl toys and beyond.

A group exhibition of paintings, drawings and prints by prominent African American artists.

ACA Galleries is pleased to present a solo online exhibition of Richard Mayhew, Transcendence, which celebrates the release of his first monograph (Chronicle Books, 2020) with an essay and interview by Andrew Walker, Executive Director of the Amon Carter Museum.

The subway as a subject has captured the artist’s imagination since its beginnings. A symbol of modern progress, the subway is a great unifier; the ultimate democracy where people from different boroughs, classes, races, and ethnicities come together for the same fare and experience. The subway and elevated provide dramatic possibilities for non-narrative art which explore the geometries and lines of girders and tracks as well as extreme darkness to bright sunlight. This exhibition brings together a wide range of artists and media to investigate this captivating subject. The exhibition showcases an array of artists’ interpretations over the last century and demonstrates how the subway exemplifies the diversity and community that defines New York as a city.