There is life after Deitch. Now that the dynamic art dealer has assumed his new position as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, his former staff members are carving out places of their own in the New York art world.
Last week the Wall Street Journal reported on the opening of the Hole — a collaborative art space run by former Deitch Projects directors Kathy Grayson and Meghan Coleman in SoHo — and on Friday the gallery sent out news of its first show, Not Quite Open for Business, which features unfinished art, unfinished poems, and unfinished symphonies by 20 renegade artists in an installation designed by Taylor McKimens. Seeking an inside look at the project and the related personalities, we surfed Grayson’s blog, Art From Behind, and grabbed some images that provide a playful view of the situation in flux.
The Hole, which opens at 104 Greene Street on June 26, has free rent from real estate developer Tony Goldman for the first seven months. The site will house the gallery; Holey Books, a shop designed by Rafael de Cardenas for books, zines, and art objects; a café, which will be ready by summer’s end; and, purportedly, a dating service for artists, dubbed Hole Lotta Love. Upcoming shows include a solo outing by Fort Thunder co-founder Mat Brinkman, a collaborative club installation by Dearraindrop and Kenny Scharf, and a Fall Fashion Week extravaganza with Cody Critcheloe and his band SSION and fashion designer Peggy Noland.
Grayson and Coleman will be collaborating with former Deitch Projects executive Suzanne Geiss, who is currently managing Miranda July’s public art installation Eleven Heavy Things at New York’s Union Square. Meanwhile, another former Deitch Projects director, Nicola Vassell, is finding her way as a new director at the venerable Pace Gallery, where she recently told the New York Observer, “they’re looking at the next 50 years, and they’re looking at doing what they did before, again — to really be at the edge, at the forefront.”
Kathy Grayson with The Hole business cards
Grayson tries her new business card on for size
The Hole rephotographed from the Wall Street Journal by Grayson
Designs for The Hole announcement card and sticker
Meghan Coleman (left) pouring champagne for guests at her 29th birthday party
Taylor McKimens preparing for the installation
Artist Rosson Crow and Suzanne Geiss at Deitch Projects closing party
Jeffrey Deitch's desk covered in silly string at the closing party
Artist Terence Koh with an inverted Hole sticker on his forehead