Amidst a conservative retail climate, economic uncertainty and floundering downtown New York City art environment, the self proclaimed "art laboratory and salon," Lu Magus, opened it's doors November 5th to an eager crowd of young art aficionados and scenesters.
Lu Magnus, named after the Roman gladiatorial arena at the Colosseum, seeks to live up to its warrior status as a new spotlight for fresh talent in NYC's Lower East Side. Founders Amelia Adbullahsani, 36, and Lauren Miller, 29, carry the perfect concoction of youth and field experience to attract young collectors. Adbullahsani touts a decade-long history in the fine art scene, most recently as the Director of Stellan Holm Gallery uptown. Miller's experience crosses multiple sectors; she previously owned an accessories design business and was manager of special projects at Chelsea's Luhring Augustine.
Lower Eastside Ambiance
The space itself inhabits an unassuming, quiet block peppered with Chinese restaurants and low-key bars. A small balcony and stairs takes you down to a narrow stretch of white-walled exhibition space, cement floors and high ceilings that - thankfully - keep the space from feeling claustrophobic. Wonderfully enough - that's it. The super simple gallery space is functional and intimate, perfect for its role as an "incubator for cross-collaborations between artists of different mediums and art forms: film, music, dance, fashion and food."
Lu Magnus' current exhibit is "Expressway to Your Skull", part of a series by French artist Agathe de Bailliencourt. It includes eleven oversized paintings of interior spaces bathed in near-fluorescent swathes of manic color. The pieces balance abstraction with refined architectural elements, chaos with comfort. This equilibrium comes in part from De Bailliencourt's open exploration of the spaces she creates; her brushstrokes "attempt to define this unknown space, yet in doing so [contribute] to the deconstruction of the figurative element."
New NYC Gallery Attracts Stylish Young Clientele
The overall feeling at the gallery's opening was ebullient as attendees crammed into the space, and judging by the overwhelmingly stylish and young demographic, it is catching the attention of the right people. According to Miller prices for prints and originals will range from $300 to $50,000 and they are wooing a "younger base of collectors." Lu Magnus stands poised to be the twelfth painting in its own exhibit: a bright space in somber surroundings.
"Expressway to Your Skull" will run through December 18th, 2010.
- Lu Magnus - 55 Hester Street, New York, NY 10002,212.677.6555
Sarah Moore - Sarah Moore is an editor for a fashion trend forecasting firm and a freelance writer living in New York City. Sarah studied at Washington ...
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