signs and symbols

signs and symbols is a contemporary art gallery grounded in performance. Operating nomadically since 2012, signs and symbols presented performances in New York and internationally. Our first physical space in Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn (2015) served as a curatorial platform and multi-disciplinary incubator bringing together diverse mediums to stimulate dialogue and creative connections. In 2018, the gallery reloacted to Forsyth Street in the Lower East Side. In the fall of 2021, the gallery relocated to 249 East Houston Street.

signs and symbols' curatorial vision is rooted in performance and time-based media, informed and anchored by the work of three important art historical figures — Ulay, VALIE EXPORT and Vito Acconci — and thus encompasses performance, photography and architecture, with a focus on site-specific and performative practices with an emphasis on the body in performance, painting and other time-based media. signs and symbols’ experimental ethos is artist-centric, offering a place for experimentation and the development of new work. The gallery represents an international group of critically acclaimed and emerging contemporary artists working in a variety of media. Direct collaboration with the artist is central to each exhibition, allowing the gallery to present new original programming.

The gallery is curated, programmed and directed by Mitra Khorasheh, an independent curator and educator. signs and symbols is a proud member of the New Art Dealers Alliance.

In 2020, we launched Artists & Allies Berlin, an artist-run signs and symbols outpost in a former church in Kreuzberg organized by our Berlin-based artists in collaboration with the gallery here in New York. The project space, which was an extension of our annual artists & allies program, hosted performances, artist talks, workshops and communal dinners during the pandemic.

In 2022, we began our experimental exhibition program and project space 89 Greene, curated by Dr. Kathy Battista. Hosted within the gallery's location at 249 Houston, this project is an ode to the underground of 1960s, 70s and 80s New York City. In that spirit of community and collaboration, artists are invited to show works just for the sake of it and to forge new relationships in New York. 

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