A new museum is set to brighten up the Little Apple.
The Museum of Art and Light hosted its inaugural gala Saturday night for business leaders and members of the community, which served as the opening showcase for Manhattan’s new state-of-the-art space.
Museum executive director Erin Dragotto said her mission was to combine 21st-century technology with the visual and performing arts.
“We used the fine art of the founding collection to capture the attention of the 21st-century audience member and also embrace digital art,” Dragotto said. “Because we also wanted to be creating, not only housing and preserving art, but also creating with artists as well.”
The privately funded museum features a variety of movements and styles but is highlighted by its Mezmereyz Gallery. This gallery includes 108 projectors that produce more than 188 million pixels used to create digital art shows.
Guests are greeted by an immense multi-colored chandelier that shows off the three-story interior of the building. The second and third levels include traditional paintings and sculptures, to go along with non-traditional pieces that utilize lights and structural design.
Erick “Snowfro” Calderon, one of the contemporary artists whose work is featured at the museum, was in attendance Saturday. He specializes in “generative art,” which is art that makes use of an autonomous system.
Calderon also started an online platform called “Art Blocks” to help people promote art made with computer coding.
He said the turnout for the event was unlike anything he’s seen before in his art career.
“This is the most people that have ever seen my art,” Calderon said. “Definitely the most non-crypto bros that have ever seen my art. It’s very special just to have this much space and this much thoughtfulness go into my work. So it feels pretty special.”
Calderon, like the other featured artists, has art of different styles displayed at the museum including light projections, pottery, and NFT art.
Calderon and Dragotto said the new space represents a shift in museums and art.
Dragotto said the Museum of Art and Light is “laying the groundwork for what museums could and should be.”
“… artists are expressing themselves in new ways that I think are going to be more appealing to younger generations than some of your more traditional art practices,” Calderon said.
The public opening for the museum is Nov. 8.
