Fine Art Made Local
Facilitating meaningful and equitable relationships between artist and collector
Expand Your Collection
Fine contemporary art created locally in New York City
Current Exhibition
Esperanza Cortes: Purity of Blood
Artsy Exclusive – View here
November – December, 2022
Purity of Blood or “Limpieza de Sangre” refers to a concept of racial ideology with its origins in Early Modern Spain. In this historical context, the concern for “purity” was predicated on the biased belief that the unfaithfulness of the “deicide Jews,” (god-killing Jews) had not only endured in those who converted to Catholicism but also had been transmitted by blood to their Christian descendants. Consequently, Old Christians “of pure blood” were demarcated from the New Christians and their Jewish antecedents, who were deemed morally inadequate. This judgment of purity was primarily applied to the politically and economically influential group of Iberian conversos (Catholics of Jewish origins) but was extended also to moriscos (Catholics of Muslim lineage). “Limpieza de Sangre” also came to form part of the ideological basis of the caste system in colonized Colombia and New Spain.
About the Founder
Elizabeth Chatham is an NYC-based independent art curator. In 2018, Chatham founded Codex Project, a Chelsea-based fine art pop-up and in 2021 founded Azure Arts. Chatham holds an MFA from New York University in Visual Arts Administration, and has work experience at institutions such as Sotheby’s and Gagosian Gallery.
Honoring her late mother, who fully supported all of the Founder’s endeavors in the arts, Chatham named Azure Arts after her mother’s favorite color, Azure.
Contact Hours
Sunday - Friday: 10am – 6pm