Fortnight Institute Closes in New York

The Fortnight Institute, a downtown New York gallery devoted to cutting-edge art, has shut its doors after eight years in business. Founded in 2016 by Fabiola Alondra and Jane Harmon, the East Village gallery was known for humorously themed group shows (“Dicks,” “Only Small Paintings”) and for helping to launch the careers of figurative painter Somaya Critchlow, sculptural painter Chris Oh, and self-taught abstract painter Peter Shear. Fortnight Institute in 2016 hosted a one-person show of work by collagist and installation artist Carmen Winant, whose work centering abortion is currently on view in the Whitney Biennial. In 2021 it staged a show of work by Danielle McKinney, whose figurative paintings of Black women have gained acclaim in the last few months. The gallery’s most recent show, a solo exhibition of work by Cheri Smith, had been set to run through April 20. However, the gallery announced via an Instagram post that April 2 was its last day.

“We questioned whether we would need to adopt a more market-oriented approach and further expand the gallery to support our artists,” the founders wrote in the post. “Amidst these conversations, we reflected on the most enjoyable and valuable aspects of running this space. Ultimately, these discussions led us to reaffirm our commitment to a mission centered on creativity and artist-driven endeavors—a mission that resonates deeply within us and one that we aspire to nurture in our future endeavors.” The pair, who met in London, had financed the gallery with their respective day jobs: Harmon since 2012 has worked as Richard Prince’s studio manager, while Alondra headed 303 Gallery’s publishing division.

Fortnight is the latest of a slew of small and midsize contemporary art galleries specializing in bleeding-edge work to close in downtown New York in recent months, including Helena Anrather, Queer Thoughts, JTT, and Foxy Production. Farther uptown, the long-running Cheim & Read in Chelsea shuttered late last year.