This year ABC No Rio is celebrating its 25th anniversary and the finale of a year long series of events is their 25th Anniversary Gala Benefit & Silent Auction, which is this Thursday, 20th October from 6-10 PM. Participating in the auction will be some of the founding members and people who have exhibited at Rio over the years like Kiki Smith and Tom Otterness. Other artists include Maureen Connor ‘Tea and Sympathy,’ Mike Estabrook ‘Shrinky Dink Bug Demons,’ Robert Flynt ‘Untitled,’ David B. Frye ‘The bigoted evangelist Neal Horsley laying with a beast of the field’ and Robert Goldman ‘Electriced.’ Even Yoko Ono has contributed a black and white signed poster that has the words ‘Imagine Peace’ in bold, centered and in all caps.

The sheer range of art items for sale is impressive. Artist Paul Clay performs an experiment on data of scientists’ phonic experiments of the inner ear hairs of alligators, which he found online. The new information Clay’s efforts bring to light are revealed in his one hour DVD video titled, ‘Alligator Phono.’

Since its founding in the 1980s ABC No Rio has come to mean much more than a ‘Community Art Center’ to the downtown Delancey Street neighborhood. Rio transcends its neighborhood and has become an emotional and professional asset to socially and politically engaged artists. Young and old are embraced by family Rio; some verse-spewing poets are in their mid-fifties. Englander confidently says that we’d be hard pressed to find another place like it in the Big Apple (internet surfing and investigations through a couple of my artist friends have proven futile, therefore Englander is correct).

Rio’s most famous show was the 1980 "The Real Estate Show," where artists and activists banded together at an abandoned building on Delancey Street, before homelessness and gentrification hit NYC, to oppose high rent among other things. This protest got Rio a tremendous amount of publicity and in subsequent negotiations the city gave the artists 156 Rivington Street, the present day location of ABC No Rio.

Similar to CBGB’s predicament, the city tried to evict Rio, but Rio fought back. While the jury’s still out on CBGB, Rio won. After a sign-off by the mayor the city will transfer the building over to Rio for $1. The benefit and auction are Rio’s efforts to raise funds for the $700,000 renovations the city holds them responsible for. And raise the funds they will. They must because NYC’s collective artist community cannot do without Rio’s dark room, silk screen shop, technological resources, blogs, online artist and activist interactive network and one of the east coast’s largest libraries of 15,000 zines and alternative magazines, featuring publications like Maximum Rock & Roll, Punk Planet and others.

The overall mission of ABC No Rio is to have activists be more socially aware of the politics of culture and vice versa for the artists. The upcoming exhibit "Three Cities Against The Wall" takes this vision to an international level. Artists were chosen to do three exhibits for three exhibitions scheduled to open simultaneously in three cities: Tel Aviv, Ramallah and New York City. Israeli, Palestinian and American artists are featured together for the first time in Israel. True to Rio’s purpose, the artists use their art to demonstrate against the wall the Israelis are building.

When asked about changes in the neighborhood, Englander smiles and says, “The East Village is actually a village, everyone knows everyone,” then he sighs and the smile leaves his eyes, “but artists can no longer afford to live in the neighborhood.”

Perhaps this is what drives artists and activists to save ABC No Rio, which has been their haven amidst the yuppie-sea of uppity nouveau Manhattanite wannabes.

ABC NO RIO: 25th Anniversary
October 20th, 6-10PM

TICKET PRICES BEGIN AT $40
FOR ON-LINE AUCTION PREVIEW AND RESERVATIONS:
Join us for cocktails, buffet, performances, guest DJs, brilliant conversation and spirited bidding!!!
Proceeds to benefit the ABC No Rio Building Renovation Fund.

SILENT AUCTION with work by Carl Andre, Jonathan Berger, Jennifer Berklich, Mike Bidlo, Kathe Burkhart, Mary Campbell, Amy Chan, Patty Chang, Paul Clay, Ernest Concepcion, Maureen Connor, Thom Corn, Peter Cramer, CRASH, Jody Culkin, Peggy Cyphers, DAZE, Mike Diana, Eric Drooker, Stefan Eins, Mike Estabrook, Ebon Fisher, Fly, Robert Flynt, David B. Frye, FUCKIN REVS, Chitra Ganesh, Robert Goldman, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Judy Glantzman, Day Gleeson, Mike Glier, A. Banks Griffin, Mimi Gross, GRRRR.net, Bob Gruen, Hans Haacke, Julie Hair, Gibby Haynes, Geoffrey Hendricks, Brian Higbee, Becky Howland, Patrizia Iglesias, Bill Jacobson, Vandana Jain, Stephen Lack, Gabrielle Leidloff, Leslie Lowe, Noah Lyon, Anne Arden McDonald, Mac McGill, Manny Migrino, Peter Moore, Joseph Nechvatal, Pierre Obando, Claes Oldenburg, Yoko Ono, Tom Otterness, Francis Palazzolo, Kembra Pfahler, Philli, Rick Prol, Carlo Quispe, Ted Rall, James Romberger, Christy Rupp, Max Schumann, Scott Seaboldt, James Sheehan, Gregory Sholette, Ethan Shoshan, Zak Smith, Kiki Smith, Hugh Steers, Pat Steir, Swoon, Tabboo! Stephen Tashjian, Seth Tobocman, Marguerite Van Cook, Anton Van Dalen, Tom Warren, Jack Waters, David Wells, John White, Dale Wittig, Virgil Wong.

DEITCH PROJECTS | 18 WOOSTER STREET | NYC

www.abcnorio.org/benefit