Hyeryun Hong post

“THE CHELSEA CONNECTION”

AN ART GALLERY IN
CHELSEA, NEW YORK

Gallery- a room or building devoted to the exhibition of works of
art. This is the definition from dictionary. What do you think about this? “ a room or building devoted to exhibition of art and to enjoy and learn about art.”
Many artists and architects inspired from some small objects which can be seen easily from around you, like flowers or abandoned pan or foreign letters… To design this gallery, one stack of firewoods gave me an idea. By stacking same woods at random, it had certain shape and form. That is the way what I want to make this gallery, free spirit from individual wood and unexpected shape of building from stacking. By stacking similar shape of space differently, artist and art lovers can enjoy different experiment.
Nearly twenty years ago, I owned an art gallery in Seoul, South Korea. For reasons beyond my control I was forced to sell my gallery and since that time I have wanted to develop another one either in the U.S. or South Korea. I am an art lover and enjoy both traditional and modern art with frequent visits to galleries in South Korea and New York City.
Most galleries merely provide the artist with a large room to display his or her work. Although this does in fact give the potential patrons a chance to see the work, it does little other than that. As a purchaser of fine art I understand that the potential art buyer need to make a deep and meaningful connection with art work in order to invest any significant amount of money. This is how it should be. To foster a deeper connection with the art this gallery will do a series of subtle and not so subtle things to help the process along. That would include the following.
1) In addition to the obvious exhibition hall there will be a café immediately adjacent to it which will allow the patrons to relax, feel welcome, to linger and to gaze at the art work as they have coffee or tea.
2) There will also be a bookstore in the café which will give the patron a chance to learn more about the artist and about art in general.
3) The café will serve as a lecture area where the artist can mingle with the patrons and give a lecture as well.
4) The gallery will supply a room for the visiting artist to stay which will save them the cost of a hotel room and make it far easier for them to set up their art and any back up materials. This can be a very great problem for artists that are traveling from either over seas or from another part of the country.
5) A small studio will be available for the artist to set up shop and to work. This will provide unique creative environment for the gallery and give the patrons a chance to observe the artist in action. Again this will give both the artist and patron a chance to connect on a deeper level which will enhance greater understanding of the works in questions and increase the chance for more purchases.

As you can see, the theme of this gallery is one of connection. I want to help the patron to connect with the art and the artist in ways that are not ordinarily seen. Not only will there be a connection between East and West, past and present but most importantly this will be a gallery where patrons will connect with their passion for art and with their passion for beauty.