Tiger Strikes Asteroid is a network of exhibition spaces with locations in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Greenville. The network is a platform for artists that is curated and organized by a group of artist-volunteers. Tiger’s mission is to create the physical, mental, and emotional space for artists to show their work, meet, and exchange ideas on their own terms through exhibitions, events, and other projects.

Tiger Strikes Asteroid is an ongoing artist-run project primarily focused on exhibitions. Their New York site is comprised of ten artists who curate exhibitions at the space on a rotating basis. These artists donate their time and money, performing all the tasks involved in organizing, producing, and promoting exhibitions as well as gallery sitting.

In 2019, Tiger Strikes Asteroid will be organizing eight exhibitions at the New York site, each one curated by a different member of the organization. While Tiger Strikes Asteroid have, in the past, mainly focused on showing emerging artists, the network has recently begun mixing in more established artists into its group exhibitions, which has increased the ambition of the program greatly and has benefitted both the artists that have been shown as well as the audience in Brooklyn.

Next year, Tiger Strikes Asteroid is partnering with Trestle Gallery for Artist-Run 2020, a year-long exploration of artist-run projects throughout the country. They have invited eleven artist-run projects to curate exhibitions at various locations with the intention of building relationships and expanding collective networks. Tiger Strikes Asteroid views these exhibitions as a way of collapsing the geographic space between projects so that the relationships that are built and sustained through Artist-Run 2020 will in become a way to collectively create space for others.

As the art world continues to squeeze out mid-tier and emerging galleries, the work of artist-run spaces becomes more essential. Unfortunately, artist-run spaces are often short-lived, due to lack of funding and burnout. Against all odds, Tiger Strikes Asteroid has thrived and grown exponentially over the past ten years becoming the first artist-run space to have multiple locations across the country.