Editing: Spiritual America (gallery)

# Spiritual America (gallery)

**Spiritual America** was a short‑lived, artist‑run gallery at 5 Rivington Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side that operated from October 28, 1983, to March 1984. The operation kept irregular hours and appointment‑only viewings. The gallery was founded by Kim Fine who mounted the first presentation of the re‑photograph By Richard Prince, a photograph of Brooke Shields, By Gary Gross, out of her apartment. The eponymous work is one of the most expensive photographs in the world.

Spiritual America hosted four exhibitions/events during its run:

*Oct. 28, 1983 — By Richard Prince, a Photograph of Brooke Shields by Gary Gross (single work; appointment‑only after opening).* Fine’s presentation emphasized difficulty of access and a reverential preference for blacked‑out windows, black‑painted walls, and a single source of light. The initial black‑on‑white invitation cards read “By Richard Prince, a Photograph of Brooke Shields by Gary Gross” and omitted hours and dates. Fine designated the word “TESTIMONY” as the door code for entry; the card survives in ephemera collections with Fine’s name and address as the letterhead.

*Nov.–Dec. 1983 — Peter Nadin: Still Life (paintings).* Visitors brought fruit; Nadin read poems from his book Still Life.

*Dec. 31, 1983 — New Year’s Eve event* (temporary red‑paper wall murals by Walter Robinson; removed the next day; no surviving installation photos).

*Feb. 1–21, 1984 — POP (works by Jeff Koons, Sarah Charlesworth, Louise Lawler, Allan McCollum, Cindy Sherman and Prince).*[^1][^2]

## Related Topics

- Richard Prince
- Appropriation art
- Lower East Side art scene
- Artist-run spaces
- 1980s New York art world
- Alternative galleries
- Cindy Sherman
- Jeff Koons

## Summary

Spiritual America was a brief but influential artist-run gallery on Manhattan's Lower East Side that operated from 1983-1984, becoming notorious for exhibiting Richard Prince's controversial appropriation of a Brooke Shields photograph and helping to establish the careers of the Pictures Generation artists.

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