Club 57 New York City

Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983 

October 31, 2017-April 01, 2018

The East Village of the 1970s and 1980s continues to thrive in the public's imagination around the world. Located in the basement of a Polish Church at 57 St. Marks Place, Club 57 (1978-83) began as a no- budget venue for music and film exhibitions, and quickly took pride of place in a constellation of countercultural venues in downtown New York fueled by low rents, the Reagan presidency, and the desire to experiment with new modes of art, performance, fashion, music, and exhibition. A center of creative activity in the East Village, Club 57 is said to have influenced virtually every club that came in its wake.



Responding to the broad range of programming at Club 57, the exhibition will present their accomplishments across a range of disciplines-from film, video, performance, and theater to photography, painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, zines, fashion design, and curating. Building on extensive research and oral history, the exhibition features many works that have not been exhibited publicly since the 1980s.

Organized by Ron Magliozzi, Curator, and Sophie Cavoulacos, Assistant Curator, Department of Film; with Ann Magnuson, guest curator.

Major support for the exhibition is provided by the Keith Haring Foundation.

Generous funding is provided by mediaThe foundation inc. Additional support is provided by the Annual Film Fund.

© 2011 The Museum of Modern Art