As part of NADA’s New York Gallery Open, some of New York’s most celebrated galleries talk to Collecteurs about the current cultural landscape and why community is the key to the vitality of the overall arts ecosystem. Here we sit down with Elle Burchill and Andrea Monti of Microscope Gallery.
Follow Microscope on Collecteurs and view the most recent exhibitions.
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When was the gallery launched? And how did it all start?**
We opened our doors in September 2010 in Bushwick. We were looking for studios for our own practice. Opening a gallery was not really on our minds. But we were also both coming from curation in different capacities and there had always been this idea that maybe that should extend to the realm of exhibition at some point. We found this very small storefront next to a coffee shop by the elevated M train. It had enough space to exhibit and just the minimum distance to project works to screen. So, we decided to take it on the spot. Our first exhibit “Independence” opened about 4 weeks after signing the lease, and celebrated the independent spirit of the works and artists included. In 2014 we moved to our current and much larger space on the other side of Bushwick- near the Jefferson L train.
What inspired you to open a gallery? What need were you trying to fulfill? And why did you choose Brooklyn?
Originally, we were frustrated at the underrepresentation of time-based arts — film, video and digital art, sound, performance, among others — in art contexts, especially in commercial galleries. We firmly believed that any type of artwork from any medium or art practice should have the same chances not only to be experienced, but also to be acquired. Today that landscape has become more open.
We love living in Brooklyn and we see a deeper connection here with artists working with and those interested in time-based arts. We feel these these art forms deserve long-time commitment and support from spaces that adopt more sustainable models for them.
Local support systems seem to be the key to success in the current cultural landscape. We’d love to know more about any of your current support systems in your community.
We are lucky to able to count on the participation from our neighbors and Bushwick residents, artists, collectors, gallery goers, cinephiles, sound devotees, writers, guided tours, university class visits, etc. Classes of children from the elementary school around the corner have also visited several times.
As consumption of culture shifts more and more online. What creative ways are you exploring to continue to be relevant? What part does the community play in this?
We are not concerned with being relevant. The reality is that many of the works we champion have yet to become relevant in the sense of being commercially “successful,” even with some of our pioneering artists who have been deeply influential, but widely overlooked. We just make sure to get out and see shows, check out submissions, seek out new voices and keep showing what we love and think is important. We know that we have little control over who will get to see those works or even less with any shifts in ideas of relevancy.
It’s becoming increasingly challenging to drive steady foot traffic into gallery spaces. What brings your gallery visitors?
We’re happy with foot traffic here. It helps that six other galleries are in the same building and over 60 galleries in the neighborhood. Art fairs always bring in new people. And, our event series also allow for other audiences to visit the space and become aware of our programming.
Tell us a little bit about your program. What initiatives does your gallery support?
Each of the artists we represent works in multiple mediums and we make a point of presenting their full body of work. Additionally, there are works that are not necessarily made for exhibition, such as works made for a screening or live performance contexts. We felt that artists making works in these realms also should have the chance to be considered in the wider art context.
Both our exhibition and event series programming extends across multiple disciplines as well as creates a bridge between two worlds that were seen as separate, the gallery setting and the theater (screening/performance venue). Our programming addresses and tries to expand the audience for both.
So many of the gallery spaces have interesting “past lives.” Does yours have one?
The building has been mostly warehouses and offices for years. Our space sold jewelry. The first day, we swept the floor and found a small diamond…later found to be fake, of course!
Images:
Top: Andrea Monti and Elle Burchill of Microscope Gallery wearing 3D glasses in the 3D video installation “Kane (Dust for M.A.)” by Ben Coonley currently on view at the gallery. Image courtesy of Microscope and Ben Coonley.
Bottom: Ben Coonley On Plain Air, 2019