On a frigid December evening, eleven women artists gathered in the lobby of 125 Maiden Lane in downtown Manhattan to view and discuss Langdon Graves's exhibition "Mental Model," produced by Art in Buildings. The group, called Gossip, is a long-running artist crit collective founded in 2009 by Cranbrook Academy of Art graduates including Jessica Stoller and Kelli Miller, originally named "Get Out" before being renamed by member Virginia Wagner after Silvia Federici's writings on gossip. The group now has about 20 members, including Jenna Gribbon, Erin M. Riley, and Julie Curtiss, and meets regularly in studios and galleries for critical feedback and creative exchange.
This story matters because it highlights the enduring importance of artist-to-artist relationships in an art world often dominated by market forces, collectors, and institutional validation. Gossip represents a grassroots, multidisciplinary space where artists support each other outside commercial pressures, echoing historical artist collectives that have shaped art movements. The article reframes gossip as a feminist tool for community-building, challenging its negative connotations and emphasizing the value of peer critique and creative solidarity in contemporary art practice.