New York’s oldest alternative nonprofit art space is trying a new fundraising technique: instead of asking artists to donate art, White Columns has enlisted over 90 art dealers and gallery workers to make new work for a benefit sale.

The exhibition flips the script on a longstanding art world convention, where artists are routinely asked to donate works to support nonprofits and fundraising efforts. By putting dealers—typically the organizers and sellers—on the hook as makers instead, “Art (by) Dealers” playfully exposes the blurred boundaries between the commercial and creative sides of the industry.

“Art (by) Dealers” is organized by Kathy Huang and Will Leung and it includes work by the likes of Stefania Bortolami, Gavin Brown, Eric Firestone, Leo Fitzpatrick, Anton Kern, Wendi Norris, and Rachel Uffner, to name just a few of the dealers who agreed to take part.

It’s actually the second edition of the unusual exhibition format; the duo held the original “Art (by) Dealers” downtown at Leung’s gallery Long Story Short in the summer of 2023, as a benefit for the Lower East Side Girls Club.

“We were talking about how all of our artist friends were constantly being asked to donate work for a benefit or charity auction. And we thought it would be funny if we would ask dealers to do it instead,” said Huang, an independent curator and director at New York and Los Angeles gallery Jeffrey Deitch.

Installation view of “Art (by) Dealers” at White Columns, New York. Photo courtesy of White Columns, New York.

Then, as now, all the work was a uniform 12-by-9 inches, priced at $500, and for sale anonymously—which means you could wind up with an affordable work by a dealer who is also a practicing artist, or the best effort of a dealer picking up a brush for the first time.

Organizing the exhibition, Huang, Leung, and White Columns director Matthew Higgs each turned to their own networks of art world friends and contacts. What they found was that there was more overlap between artists and gallerists than they expected, with dealers revealing secret art school backgrounds and under-the-radar studio practices.

“We wanted to embrace there being a mix
of skills and experiences across the group of dealers,” Huang said, noting that some dealers were eager to participate, while others were first-time artists who needed more coaxing before dipping their toes into art making.

There’s Jack Hanley, for instance, who got his start as an artist before an over-30-year career running a gallery—and has returned to painting since retiring in late 2024.

Some participants work as artists and dealers simultaneously, like artist Sam Gordon, cofounder of New York’s Gordon Robichaux, and Jacqueline Cedar, who runs the roving New York art space Good Naked. She has had work in New York group shows this year at Hollis Taggart, Morgan Lehman, and Makowski Gallery and has a current solo show downtown at the Empty Circle.

But balancing the two can be difficult.

Anonymous Dealer No. 12. Photo courtesy of White Columns, New York.

Margaret Lee, who co-founded the former downtown gallery 179 Canal, was always an artist first. That’s why she stepped away from the business to dedicate herself full time to the studio in 2023.

“As I got deeper into painting, it just required more focus and concentration, and I found that having to think about logistical things through the gallery, it just kind of broke the flow,” she said of the decision in 2023. She was hesitant to participate in a show for dealers, but wanted to support White Columns’ work with young and emerging artists. “In these times, it’s becoming harder and harder for artists to find that support.”

The show is almost halfway sold out, with 52 works currently available compared to 41 snapped up by collectors.

But the trickiest part of organizing the show might have actually been getting the work submitted on time.

Anonymous Dealer No. 61. Photo courtesy of White Columns, New York.

“From a dealer or gallery’s perspective, we’re always like trying to get artists to meet deadlines for shows. And then for this show, we had such an issue
getting dealers to meet the deadline,” Huang said, noting that some participants were still dropping works off the day of the opening.

But it all came together in the end. During installation, she was amazed at the range of work on view, with paintings, photographs, collages, ceramics, and a variety of other media.

“The fun part really is going through it and trying to guess who did what,” Huang said, noting that some of the dealers actually outsourced their work to their artists for a fun second layer of anonymity. (And Deitch provided Huang with a concept that she had to execute for his work in the show.) People were coming up to her during the exhibition opening trying to identify some of the artists—but everyone, amusingly, was wrong.

And did making work for “Art (by) Dealers” reignite the flame of any long-dormant art practices? “I can’t confirm, but I hope so,” Huang said.

“Art (by) Dealers” is on view through April 25 at White Columns, 91 Horatio Street, New York, New York.