We hear that Jeffrey Deitch is opening a space in the basement of the Chelsea Hotel, per an artist who claims to have had work considered for an upcoming show. The landmark residence is famous—or infamous—for its association with the downtown New York art scene. Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, and countless other performers, writers, and artists have roamed its hallways in search of muses. Scenes fromAndy Warhol‘s “Chelsea Girls” were filmed in the hotel, and its star, Edie Sedgwick, eventually took up residence there. If the rumor is true, Deitch would be in legendary company.
artnet News sent a reporter to the hotel, and an attendant confirmed that there was an empty gallery space. However, she could not say who was behind any upcoming projects. We reached out to the new owners of the hotel, the King & Grove chain, which owner Ed Scheetz recently rebranded as Hotel Chelsea. As of publication time, they have yet to respond.
Deitch reportedly opened his first gallery in a hotel parlor at the Curtis Hotel in Lenox Massachusetts in 1972 when he was still a college student. In 1974 he arrived in Soho. By 1995, he opened his legendary space Deitch Projects on 76 Grand Street, which now houses the Suzanne Geiss gallery. However, the celebrity-obsessed curator and dealer has been without a dedicated New York space since 2010, when he accepted a position as the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA). We all know how that turned out.
After he resigned from MOCA in 2013, a year later, Rizzoli released the book, Live the Art—a 448-page homage to his life and work. Lately he’s been doing various projects in far-flung locales, such as his exhibition with downtown dance legend Karole Armitage at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City (see Jeffrey Deitch and Mana Contemporary Celebrate Armitage Dance and Art) and his upcoming curatorial work with Joseph Sitt, the head of Thor Equities, for a street art show in Coney Island, (see Jeffrey Deitch Has Sunk So Low He’s Curating for Property Developers on Coney Island).
Deitch returned an email requesting comment, but refused to confirm or deny the rumor.
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