With more than 200 galleries and more moving in all the time, Chelsea has long superseded expensive SoHo as New York’s buzzing centre for contemporary art. But has the area lost its edge to commercial opulence, or will it maintain its youthful and creative flare?
Much like London’s East End, Chelsea’s rebirth as centre for uber-cool art occurred in the 90s. This was brought with the arrival of a new generation of creative talent seeking cheap space within areas of former industrial decay.
With it came all the trimmings; trendy bars, exclusive fashion outlets and some damn fine New York cuisine. So more than a decade later, news that this area is an overflowing helicon of inspiration is nothing new – and now that word has gotten out about this lucrative gem it seems everyone wants a piece of the pie.
A walk along 10th Avenue opens the floodgates to a host of very pristine-looking galleries with clean-cut glass fronts and metal staircases. You’d be forgiven for wondering into a building clad with alluring, semi-genuine street art only to be slightly embarrassed that it’s an upmarket clothes store. There are some very big players here, and it’s all very impressive; all very expensive. The numerous white cubes that adorn the streets of Chelsea seem to have dissolved much of the raw pioneering spirit of the early days. If you’re attempting to put a price on urban cool, credibility is an asset that might cross your mind.
But much of the art is still edgy and innovative, with some fine examples of sculpture and installation to be sampled from cutting edge artists. Marc Newson has been stunning crowds at the Gagosian gallery with his life-sized futuristic vehicles while the frantic sculptures of Judy Pfaff in the Ameringer Yohe gallery look as though they have been assembled by an angry poltergeist. The likes of Damien Hurst, Banksy and famous Lego sculptor Nathan Sawaya have all graced these hallowed streets over the years and the influx of high profile artists in high profile spaces looks set to continue.
The seemingly endless rows of galleries also provide a platform for younger and less well established artists. Many of whom seem to point to a close-knit art scene where excessive and ‘real’ art are exhaustively pursued within the cultural melting pot that is New York City.
There is an air of maturity about Chelsea and the galleries that have grown up around it, just as you would find in areas that had experienced a wild youth such as Carnaby Street in London. This is not just a creative hub, it is also the home of some serious and increasingly lucrative real estate where art is big business and art dealers stand to make even bigger profits. There’s certainly money to be made – even in time of financial uncertainty. London-based Art Market Research recently indicated that despite turmoil in world economies the prices of the closely watched top two per cent of contemporary art looks set to rise by up to 72 percent. Everywhere you turn there’s a new luxury development squashed between seemingly identikit converted warehouses. Whether it’s the erratically lined tower designed by Jean Nouvel or the ICM building by award winning architect Frank Gehry, Chelsea is buzzing and art has paid its way.
But Chelsea is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. Soaring rent prices attributed to the increasing popularity of the area coupled with the recession could drive out the very creative force that brought the area to recent notoriety. One can’t help notice the apparently cyclical nature of creative spaces from innovation, to gentrification and fall from grace. A 2009 survey of 1,000 artists conducted by the New York Foundation for the Arts found that 43 percent expected their annual income to drop by between 26 and 50 percent in the following six months and that 11 percent believed that they would have to leave the city altogether within the same time frame.
Elsewhere the renowned Chelsea Art Museum has faced persistent financial uncertainty. While its presence cemented Chelsea as a top destination of contemporary art, the struggle by owner Dorthea Keeser to pay the mortgage on the 30,000sq ft venue typifies the ongoing struggle to finance quality artwork in an increasingly exclusive market.
Help is however at hand, and there are a number of organisations in Chelsea that are dedicated to preserving the area’s creative talent pool. Cue Foundation is a non-profit body designed to promote and encourage young artists.
Established in 2003, Cue not only provides a physical space and practical aid for budding talent, but also a community which allows it to incubate. To date around 60 artists and collectives have been provided with solo exhibitions at CUE, and a similar number of writers and curators have been selected to support them. Six hundred public schools also participate in the organisation’s education exercises, helping the arts to maintain a strong foothold in the city.
New York remains unique in the global art world where cash seems to flow freely among seemingly innocuous reputations, as one commenter pointed out: “I’m still amazed that we live like this, that people plunk down forty thousand dollars for a painting by someone who only a few hundred people have heard of. What could be more fantastic?”
Chelsea’s continued dominance in the wider New York art scene is by no means certain, but the city as a whole seems to be doing a pretty good job if maintaining a solvent creative economy. If history has taught us anything, it’s that each generation will write their own destiny. Virtually non-existent as a cultural hot spot five years ago and now described as a ‘lab for new art’, around a dozen galleries have opened their doors in the Lower East Side. Enticed by cheaper rents and that edgy allure, it’s a candidate that could topple Chelsea’s place as the jewel of the New York art world. Gallery owners have reason to watch their back, after all what could be more fleeting than the allure of cool and the wealth that stalks it?
