Club 57

Club 57
Name	Club 57
Type	Nightclub, performance space, art venue
City	New York City
Neighborhood	East Village
Opened	1978
Closed	1983

Club 57

Club 57 was an influential underground nightclub and art performance space in New York City's East Village during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Founded by a collective of artists, performers, and organizers, it became a nexus for experimental theater, punk music, performance art, and visual art exhibitions that connected with scenes in downtown Manhattan, the Chelsea Hotel milieu, and the broader American and European avant-garde. The venue's hybrid programming drew participants from diverse networks including punk bands, no wave filmmakers, performance artists, and artists associated with galleries and museums.

History

Established in 1978 by a cooperative of artists linked to spaces like the Chelsea Hotel, the venue emerged amid contemporaneous institutions such as CBGB, Max's Kansas City, and The Kitchen. Early years saw collaborations with figures crossing lines between music, theater, and visual art, intersecting with practitioners from Warhol-adjacent circles, Patti Smith-era scenes, and the nascent no wave movement that included artists associated with Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham. The founders positioned the space against commercial galleries and mainstream performance venues, aligning with DIY philosophies that resonated with collectives like Collective for Living Cinema and initiatives around Performa-style performance. By 1983, pressures from rising rents, neighborhood change, and shifting cultural economies led to closure, after which former participants dispersed into institutions including Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and various international galleries.

Location and Venue

Located in the East Village, the site occupied a storefront and basement configuration typical of repurposed tenements and commercial buildings in proximity to St. Mark's Place and Tompkins Square Park. The interior was characterized by an intimate performance floor, makeshift stages, and gallery-like wall space that hosted exhibitions and installations akin to shows at PS1 Contemporary Art Center and alternative spaces such as Alternative Museum. Its nontraditional layout fostered interdisciplinary events that bridged practices visible at venues like Danceteria and experimental film venues such as the Film-Makers' Cooperative. The neighborhood context linked the venue to nearby cultural landmarks including The Bowery Ballroom and the former site of Max's Kansas City.

Cultural Impact and Community

The venue catalyzed cross-pollination among communities that included participants from the punk scene, the no wave movement, the downtown theater circuit, and visual art networks tied to galleries in SoHo and the Lower East Side. Artists, musicians, and actors who frequented the space later engaged institutions like New York University, Cooper Union, and international biennials such as the Venice Biennale. The community ethic emphasized collaboration with collectives reminiscent of Act Up's later activist networks, and social intersections with literary figures connected to Street literature and zine cultures associated with publishers like SWEATSHOP. The venue's social matrix fostered careers for individuals who later showed work at Gagosian Gallery, Pace Gallery, and participated in programming at Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Notable Events and Performers

Programming featured multidisciplinary performances, punk and post-punk concerts, experimental theater, and film screenings; performers and collaborators included figures who are associated with entities like The Ramones, Blondie, Television (band), and no wave musicians associated with James Chance and Lydia Lunch. Theater and performance artists connected to the venue later worked with companies such as La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and collaborators from the broader downtown scene including directors and designers who partnered with Joe Brainard-circles and filmmakers active in the Independent Film community. Benefit nights and themed parties drew attention from journalists at outlets like The Village Voice and curators from museums such as the New Museum.

Visual Aesthetic and Art Exhibitions

The visual language at the venue combined bricolage, punk collage strategies, Super 8 film aesthetics, and installation practices that prefigured curatorial approaches adopted by institutions like PS1, The Kitchen, and experimental film programs at Museum of Modern Art. Exhibitions often showcased early work by artists who later exhibited at Whitney Museum of American Art and international galleries, employing techniques resonant with movements linked to Neo-Expressionism, Conceptual Art, and assemblage practices associated with artists in the orbit of Robert Rauschenberg. Multimedia nights paired visual installations with live soundscapes influenced by practitioners such as Brian Eno and experimental composers tied to downtown scenes.

Legacy and Preservation Efforts

Following closure, archival interest led to exhibitions, oral histories, and scholarship by curators and institutions including Museum of the City of New York, New-York Historical Society, and university programs at Columbia University and New York University. Preservation efforts have documented the venue's ephemera, fanzines, posters, and recordings now held by special collections and archives comparable to holdings at The New School archives and independent projects like Eyebeam. Retrospectives and revival exhibitions have traced the venue's influence on subsequent generations linked to DIY spaces, artist-run centers, and contemporary festivals such as Frieze and downtown performance festivals associated with PROTOTYPE Festival. The venue remains a touchstone in studies of late 20th-century New York cultural production and urban change.

Category:Nightclubs in Manhattan