‘Broad City’ Actor Leo Fitzpatrick Lands Full-Time Director Gig at Marlborough Chelsea

Leo Fitzpatrick. Photo: James Stone.

Broad City fans may recall Leo Fitzpatrick from his memorable spot on the recent season finale of the show as a wealthy street urchin. But the multitalented actor, artist, and curator has now officially found a home: As of this month, he is a director of Marlborough Chelsea, one of the New York branches of Marlborough Gallery, his first full-time job since he was 17, back when he first found fame as one of the stars of the movie Kids.

In 2012, Fitzpatrick co-founded the offbeat downtown art space Home Alone Gallery with artists Nate Lowman and Hanna Liden. The idea came to the trio one night when they were “sitting at a bar, drinking beers together, and talking about art,” Fitzpatrick told this reporter three years ago in an interview with Art in America.

The unconventional gallery, which started out as a simple shop window display before evolving into a slightly larger space that actually accommodated visitors, never offered any of the work on view for sale. Though Fitzpatrick enjoyed not “having the responsibility of explaining it or trying to sell it or anything of that,” he welcomes the increased resources that will be at his disposal at a more commercial venture.

“I think of Marlborough Chelsea as a young gallery with a rich history, and truly believe that I will be given the freedom and support to realize my vision, as opposed to working for another gallery and helping them uphold theirs,” Fitzpatrick told artnet News in an e-mail.

Fitzpatrick says that he will miss the old Home Alone Gallery, which closed earlier this year, but notes that “towards the end, Nate and Hanna’s careers were much more time-consuming than they had been when we started, and I ended up trying to keep the space alive almost single-handedly. We accomplished our goals (lost a lot of money) and decided to end on a high note.”

In his new gig, Fitzpatrick joins principle directors Max Levai and Pascal Spengemann. (See Andrew Kuo and Scott Reeder Bring a Nightclub to Marlborough and Marlborough Will Park Public Sculptures Along Broadway.) As for what he brings to the program, Fitzpatrick plans to host a program of small, curated exhibitions called “Viewing Room,” in pop-up spaces within the gallery.

The concept is meant to invoke the spirit of Home Alone, says Fitzpatrick, a place “where the artist is always right . . . even if it’s wrong.”


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