We were lucky to catch up with Tanith K recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tanith, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I curate three shows a year to provide more opportunities for KC artists to exhibit their work. Last year, I started a new initiative to have one of those shows be a collaboration with another Kansas City curator. It was a year of conversations and affirmations with Craig Auge from the artist-ran space Lodger until we finally landed on a date and realized concept. He curated the artists while I curated their work.
It was such a fun process, giving me insight to the curatorial philosophy of a fellow curator and helping me to better hone my own skills and practice. It also let me connect deeper into my community and meet artists that I might have missed otherwise. I enjoyed it so much that I now want my summer exhibition to be a collaborative show. In 2025, I’m doing a gallery/curator swap with Holsum Gallery ran by Garry Noland. I can’t be more excited for this initiative to turn into a Gallery Athanor tradition.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Gallery Athanor is a private in-home alternative art space and curatorial project! I opened in fall 2022. It is cozy and intimate. My curatorial style is unconventionally balanced, finding unheard conversations and unique foundations between artists, their art, and each other. I love a full-grid gallery wall with a gentle touch of informal composition. I pull from my values as an art collector myself as well as my personal practice as an artist whenever I curate. I crave visual interest and maximalism delivers.
My goal for Gallery Athanor is to create an alternative art space that reflects casual collections and real-world art displays found in homes, as well as transform traditional barriers that often bar artists from entering into pre-determined art circles. This ambition is reflected in the gallery’s name. An athanor is a legendary, if not outright mythical, alchemical furnace that is able to hold the perfect steady temperature necessary for transmutation. Through consistency, patience, and care, elements placed inside transmute into something different and new.
I have three exhibitions a year – two with an open call and one as a collaboration between myself and another local curator. Shows typically run for six weekends on Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 4pm by appointment. I hope patrons can find space to breathe during this private moment and give themselves the time they want to experience with these temporary collections.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Buy their art! Tell others about them! Tag them! Share opportunities! Build a collection of your own that suits your budget and then tell your friends about the pieces you have. Go to not only openings, but also during an exhibition period. Talk with curators to learn about what’s happening in your town. Buy from local artisans and vendors to boost your local economy.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Art on My Mind: Visual Politics by bell hooks and Cultural Strike: Art and Museums in the Age of Protests by Laura Raicovich.
Curators and galleries provide space for culture to thrive and exist. We bear a great responsibility for the stories and narratives we are presenting, especially if it is counter to the status quo. bell hooks explores art in a collection of powerful personal essays centered around art as political (specifically from a Black viewpoint) while Laura Raicovich examines museums as political epicenters that uphold capitalist values and asks how museums can serve the public better. Both these books helped me to better understand my role as a curator, what philosophies I actually wish to embody, and how to fuse my values into my curations in a responsible way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thetanith.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/galleryathanor
