West Village galleries

Is the West Village still worth visiting for art? I asked myself this question the other day, after realizing that there’s been something of an art world exodus from the neighborhood in the past couple years. Most recently and notably, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise left their West Village space for two galleries in the Lower East Side and Harlem in the summer of 2015. But this shift out of the area began even earlier. Harris Lieberman Gallery closed in 2013, Sperone Westwater moved to the Bowery in 2010 and numerous lesser-known galleries either left or closed in between. Just trying to find a current list of West Village galleries is a study in dead link and farewell letters.

A few shuttered doors don’t tell the whole story, though, so I headed out to the West Village to find out for myself what’s out there. After an afternoon of exploring the neighborhood’s September shows, I’m happy to report that there’s plenty worth heading out to see. The results of my trip below: