The Real Estate Show (1980)

The Real Estate Show, 123 Delancey Street, NYC 1980

In late 1979, a group of artists broke into a city-owned building at 123 Delancey Street to stage The Real Estate Show, a protest against New York’s developer-driven land policies and a show of solidarity with working people. 

I contributed to the show with a poignant statement on the real estate crisis by building a small nest from debris found directly around the site.

The Real Estate Show Was Then: 1980 (2014)

Some 35 years later, many of those same artists delved into their personal archives to recreate the show at the James Fuentes Gallery, located just five blocks from the original location of the squatted show.

With my original nest now disintegrated, I constructed a new one, again from debris found in the immediate surroundings. The contrast between the two nests speaks volumes about the real estate changes and gentrification in the Lower East Side.

ABC No Rio 1980

Within days of the original Real Estate Show, city officials padlocked the building and confiscated the art, marking a pivotal moment for activist artists on the Lower East Side that led to the founding of ABC No Rio, a countercultural arts organization founded in a squat at 156 Rivington Street.

Joining in this action, I created a nest to serve as the the original bathroom facility of ABC No Rio in 1980; a draped branch could be dropped for privacy when required.