Mathew Gallery, a Berlin- and New York-based gallery dedicated to emerging art, is leaving its space at 47 Canal in Chinatown to open directly across the street at 46 Canal. The move is the latest shuffle in a scene that increasingly feels like a game of musical chairs.
The gallery’s founder David Lieske first opened in New York in 2014, when he was invited to set up shop there by the space’s original occupant, the gallery 47 Canal. (At the time, 47 Canal was moving to a larger space at 291 Grand Street; now, it is returning to its namesake address.)
Mathew’s new location is the result of serendipity that is all too rare in New York real estate. Taking a phone call outside the gallery not long after 47 Canal asked for the space back, Lieske looked across the street and saw that the tenants of 46 Canal—a model casting agency—were moving.
David Lieske Portrait, 2017. Courtesy of Mathew Gallery.
Lieske, who is also an artist and record label owner, told artnet News he wanted to remain in New York because the gallery “appeals to mostly American clients, as it is lovely to have a more personal relationship with them through being in New York.”
True to Mathew Gallery’s collaborative spirit, the new space opens September 10 with an exhibition developed in partnership with the German non-profit MINI/Goethe-Institut Curatorial Residencies Ludlow 38.
The show will survey fashion—both high and low—from the early 2000s. The show’s curator Matthew Linde, the founder of Centre for Style, has gathered pieces from the Antwerp 6, LVMH-owned brands, and the first collaborations between fast-fashion house H&M and young designers. The items will not be for sale.
The show will attempt “to describe an entire decade of dressing,” Lieske says. The curator “re-constructs a tumultuous piece of history in a way a museum never could.”
The cross-pollination between the art and fashion worlds will be made literal through several performances in which models catwalk between 46 Canal and 38 Ludlow (where Goethe Institut is located) and exchange articles of clothing along the way.
Fashion seems to be a theme this fall in this corner of Chinatown: 47 Canal will also be hosting a pop-up shop by Lydia Rodriguez where visitors can preview fashion collections.
After its inaugural exhibition, Mathew Gallery is planning a “retrospective” of the now-defunct Villa Design Group and a three-person show of new work by Sean Raspet, Cooper Jacoby, and Kirsten Pieroth.
“The Overworked Body: An Anthology of 2000s Dress” will run September 10–October 14 at Mathew Gallery, 46 Canal Street, and MINI/Goethe-Institut Curatorial Residences Ludlow 38, 38 Ludlow Street.