Ultra hip uptown art galleries go conservative

The Upper East Side has long been overshadowed by downtown neighborhoods known for exciting nightlife and edgy art galleries.
Incentives to visit this part of town are a little less hip. Fifth Avenue is the home of Museum Mile, which includes the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim, and the many historic mansions of New York tycoons.

While the UES is often chastised for its stale conservatism, the area was once filled with galleries that housed works by famous artists of the 20th century. The neighborhood might not be the hot spot it once was, but traces of the Upper East Side’s former glory may still exist.

18 E. 71st St. is home to the Leo Castelli Gallery, which first opened in 1957 and exhibited paintings by Pollock, de Kooning, Warhol, and Lichtenstein—to name a few. The Ronald Feldman Gallery, opened in 1971 just three blocks from Castelli, was also a premier space for up-and-coming artists. As noted in a 2002 New York Times article on the history of the gallery, Feldman was a risk-taker and “staked his reputation on difficult art work ... that was unlikely to make any money.”

While the Feldman Gallery has moved to Mercer Street, Castelli remains at its UES location where it is still a champion of modern art. The gallery is currently showing an exhibition titled “Electricity,” which explores the use of neon bulbs during the minimal and conceptual movements of the 1960s.

Another uptown landmark is the Gagosian Gallery on 77th Street and Madison Avenue. The gallery presents a mix of Warhol-era artists and more recent (but equally as unaffordable) names like Damien Hirst and Takashi Murakami. The current show is an exposition of marble sculpture with pieces ranging from the Renaissance to the 20th century.

Artists like Warhol, Pollock, and even Hirst have already been solidified in the art world, so it’s no surprise that the Upper East Side continues to showcase their work. But the opportunities for brand-new artists are slim.

Betty Krulik, who owns a small American art gallery on 71st Street and Madison Avenue, said her conservative field is perfect for the neighborhood. “This is not the area for cutting-edge contemporary,” she warned. Krulik’s intimate, by-appointment space is representative of the galleries that line Madison Avenue, several of which sell ancient art.

Yet as with most New York neighborhoods, the Upper East Side has its share of colleges that provide hope for a younger market. The Leubsdorf Gallery at Hunter College is now showing works by Hunter MFA alumni as well as art by current undergraduates on the 11th floor of the Hunter North Building.

The gallery is a hidden treasure—the outside entrance is always locked and visitors must know to enter through the college’s main lobby. Yet Ann Chan, a sophomore at Hunter, explained that anyone can go and view the art, which offers a welcoming atmosphere and a free ticket to explore a new generation of artists. Maybe change is in the UES air.