Eviction from NYC Art Space Documented in Whitehot Magazine

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By BRIAN LEO, May 2023

The first 11 years of having my art studio on W 21st street between 7th and 8th avenues in New York City, I had been very mousy because I did not want to risk losing the space. That was the agreement I had made with the property owner who had rented me an illegal art studio.

It was written as "storage" on the lease, but the property owner knew it would be used as an art studio. I am grateful for having the space for 14 years. That studio allowed me to produce artwork for various shows throughout my career, however - I had recently the rug pulled from under me. Artist Al Diaz described it as a "sock to the jaw". I was given only 3 weeks to vacate the studio and it has been a whirlwind of physical and emotional stress dealing with finding a new space, documenting, wrapping, packing, and moving all my artwork.  

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The last couple of years at my studio was when I decided to activate the studio more by having more visitors - I was never supposed to have traffic in the studio. When Covid hit in 2020, I decided that I wanted to convert part of my studio into a project space. My space was inspired by my wife, Amy, who had established Amy Li Projects on Mott Street, NYC, in the front section of her father’s button shop.

Guess she was like a board advisor as well for me at times. In addition, there had also been many gallerists who had been written about over the years in the NY Times for opening exhibition spaces in their apartment living rooms and hallways. There was even one guy in Brooklyn who opened a space out of his bedroom closet. The cream of the crop was Daniel Reich, though. This art dealer opened a gallery out of his studio apartment on West 21st street between 8th and 9th avenues, one block from my studio. He did this after 9-11.  I had not known about him until I went to one of Kenny Schachter's Hoarder auctions at Sotheby’s, but it’s an interesting story if you research Reich.  

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So going back to converting part of my studio space into a project space for visual artists: During the height of the pandemic in early 2020, when all the galleries became ‘by appointment only’ and flocked to social media/online viewing rooms, I came up with the idea to invest in building a project space out of a 100 square foot room of my art studio. I felt that the playing field had been leveled since I thought I could handle ‘by appointment only’ in my space during Covid. I wanted to cross pollinate my online followers, supporters, and collectors with the artists I had invited to exhibit.

It was a way great way for artists to support each other. We never had art openings or large gatherings. It was all scheduled private viewings. I interacted with each masked guest. It was a way to stay connected one-to one with the exhibiting artists and guests during the pandemic. I also tried to ask each visitor for a photo in the project space to document. Each picture was special to me because I got to interact with humans in person. My Covid-19 personal protection at the time included the wearing of masks, hand sanitizer and keeping a physical distance. Everything is documented on Instagram @brianleoprojects. WM

Courtesy of the author.

Courtesy of the author.

Courtesy of the author.