A stunning visual journey through the last vestiges of New York City’s artist lofts
Envied by artists and apartment hunters alike for their wide windows and open floor plans, New York City’s lofts were once manufacturing centers in the late 19th and early 20th century. As urban densification pushed industry into the suburbs, these buildings were left empty. Looking for cheap rents and ideal studios, artists struck bargains with landlords to live and work in commercially zoned spaces. By the 1970s, these same artists faced eviction as their landlords embraced the new wealthy clientele that seeped into neighborhoods such as SoHo, Tribeca and the Bowery. Enacted in 1982, Article 7-C of the Multiple Dwelling Law, better known as the “Loft Law,” allowed artists to obtain legal occupancy and rent stabilization. After discovering a map of the protected buildings, documentary filmmaker Joshua Charow embarked on the ambitious project of documenting them. Over two years, he rang hundreds of doorbells, interviewing over 50 artists still living in these lofts, and photographing them in their spaces, alongside their works in progress and the unique modifications they have made to the lofts to meet legal standards. This timely untold story paints a portrait of a bygone era of New York’s downtown art scene. Artists include: Ken Jacobs, Flo Jacobs, Loretta Dunkelman, Katherine Liberovskaya, Phill Niblock, Gerald Marks, Martine Mallary, Michael Sullivan, Carmen Cicero, Joseph Marioni, Carolyn Oberst, Jeff Way, Chuck DeLaney, Joe Haske, Kimiko Fujimura, Steve Silver, Noah Jemison, Sumayyah Samaha, Bob Petrucci, Claire Fergusson, Gilda Pervin, Curtis Mitchell, Ellen Christine, Marsha Pels, Betsy Kaufman, Jennifer Charles, JG Thirlwell, Alex Locadia, Winkel, Anne Mason. Joshua Charow is a documentary filmmaker and photographer based in New York City. His projects aim to unveil unseen stories and subcultures across New York City. Charow has directed and shot documentary films for the New York Times, Time magazine, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Joshua Charow: Loft Law.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Artnet
Jamie Valentino
A new book is opening the curtains to the last creative residential sanctuaries left in the city. Photographer Joshua Charow’s 'Loft Law: The Last of New York City’s Original Artist Lofts,' newly released on Damiani Books, captures a fading way of life.
Highsnobiety
Jason Meggyesy
In his new book 'Loft Law, The Last of New York City’s Original Artist Lofts,' Charow intimately captures spaces and faces from the dwindling fraternity of auteurs protected under the 1982 New York law of the same name.
Esquire
Alex Belth
For generations, artists came to New York to practice their vocation. Many lived in industrial spaces converted into studios and lofts, where they remain, despite the changes of the city around them. Charow does us all a favor in this loving book, gorgeously rendered, by taking us into these lofts and into the lives of the artists.
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Thursday, April 10, from 6:30–7:30 PM, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation branch of the NYPL presents documentary photographer and filmmaker Joshua Charow discussing his book Loft Law: The Last of New York City's Original Artist Lofts, which offers a stunning visual journey through a bygone era of New York's downtown art scene. This event will take place in person on the 7th Floor. continue to blog
Thursday, April 25 at 7 PM, the Strand Book Store presents documentary filmmaker and photographer Joshua Charow in conversation with Curbed and New York Magazine design editor Wendy Goodman on his debut photobook, Loft Law: The Last of New York City's Original Artist Lofts. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street. Ticketing information here. continue to blog
Featured spreads are from Loft Law, filmmaker and photographer Joshua Charow’s new book documenting the last of New York City's original artist lofts. “Walk through SoHo today and look up into the cast iron windows that line its cobblestone streets,” Charow writes. “Between tech offices, luxury storefronts and multi-million dollar condos, you might catch a glimpse of a space that commands your attention. The loft’s rawness stands out from its surroundings, with rusted tin ceilings and empty cans of paint lining the ground. Inside the loft, an 85-year-old artist is having their morning coffee while working on a painting. Behind them are thousands of other canvases stored in the wooden shelves they’ve filled up over the past 50 years. This person is not just a painter, but a time traveler. If you’re lucky enough to walk into one of their studios, you will be transported back to the year they moved in, to a New York that doesn’t exist anymore. However, due to the perfect storm of history, politics and enough of a fight, these artists remain today, giving us a peek into the wonderful worlds they’ve created and sustained in our ever-changing city.” continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9.5 x 11.25 in. / 192 pgs / 108 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $55.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $79 ISBN: 9788862088152 PUBLISHER: Damiani AVAILABLE: 4/30/2024 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA LA
Joshua Charow: Loft Law The Last of New York City's Original Artist Lofts
Published by Damiani. Text by Joshua Charow.
A stunning visual journey through the last vestiges of New York City’s artist lofts
Envied by artists and apartment hunters alike for their wide windows and open floor plans, New York City’s lofts were once manufacturing centers in the late 19th and early 20th century. As urban densification pushed industry into the suburbs, these buildings were left empty. Looking for cheap rents and ideal studios, artists struck bargains with landlords to live and work in commercially zoned spaces. By the 1970s, these same artists faced eviction as their landlords embraced the new wealthy clientele that seeped into neighborhoods such as SoHo, Tribeca and the Bowery. Enacted in 1982, Article 7-C of the Multiple Dwelling Law, better known as the “Loft Law,” allowed artists to obtain legal occupancy and rent stabilization. After discovering a map of the protected buildings, documentary filmmaker Joshua Charow embarked on the ambitious project of documenting them. Over two years, he rang hundreds of doorbells, interviewing over 50 artists still living in these lofts, and photographing them in their spaces, alongside their works in progress and the unique modifications they have made to the lofts to meet legal standards. This timely untold story paints a portrait of a bygone era of New York’s downtown art scene.
Artists include: Ken Jacobs, Flo Jacobs, Loretta Dunkelman, Katherine Liberovskaya, Phill Niblock, Gerald Marks, Martine Mallary, Michael Sullivan, Carmen Cicero, Joseph Marioni, Carolyn Oberst, Jeff Way, Chuck DeLaney, Joe Haske, Kimiko Fujimura, Steve Silver, Noah Jemison, Sumayyah Samaha, Bob Petrucci, Claire Fergusson, Gilda Pervin, Curtis Mitchell, Ellen Christine, Marsha Pels, Betsy Kaufman, Jennifer Charles, JG Thirlwell, Alex Locadia, Winkel, Anne Mason.
Joshua Charow is a documentary filmmaker and photographer based in New York City. His projects aim to unveil unseen stories and subcultures across New York City. Charow has directed and shot documentary films for the New York Times, Time magazine, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu.
