56 HENRY

This gallery is easy to love. You’ll find a mix of current-day artists with wit and skills spliced in with some of the best of women artists from the 80s who relish being part of the experimental fabric of downtown NYC.

Topics pour out across the spectrum, oftentimes exploring big, important themes like feminism, racism, loneliness, and the state of America. But somehow, the art here keeps us feeling light. There are plenty of tongue-in-cheek twists and quirky takes on the Zeitgeist.

It’s hard not to feel a sense of potential and burgeoning community here. Partly because founder Ellie Rines used to live in the backroom of the gallery, and it still retains its living room vibes. Partly because the exhibition openings here often spill into street parties.

Founder Ellie Rines might be having more fun than anyone in the art world. She has a background in Chinese antiquities and opened her first contemporary gallery, 55 Gansevoort, in the Meatpacking District in 2013. The gallery relocated to 56 Henry Street in 2016, hence the current name. In 2022, she opened a second space at a corner store at 105 Henry, scooping up Gallery Director Era Myrteza along the way. Their fun-loving energy proves that galleries are as much about the people behind them as the art on the walls.