i20 gallery
The gallery is situated on the top floor of a former industrial building in the Chelsea section of New York City and includes a rooftop area. The existing space was unconstructed with concrete floors and columns and south facing windows. The program called for the design and construction of gallery spaces with offices, private showroom and an outdoor exhibit area on the roof. The project was significant in that it was the inaugural space for I-20, now a successful young gallery with an international reputation. Our approach was to respect the industrial character of the space, imparting some sense of identity without over designing. Existing doors salvaged from the site were stripped and reused in new locations. An entry articulated by a 9'; x 11'; raw steel pocket door located directly opposite the building elevator allowed this space to be integrated into the gallery thereby expanding the boundaries. Existing graffitti on the columns was left in place as an acknowledgement to past inhabitants while the door, left unfinished, now shows the signs of hands and fingers leaving tangible imprints of the viewers themselves. In review art, Dominique Nahas wrote in a review of the inaugural show at I-20:
This is the artist's first solo show in New York, and it occurs in a new gallery designed by Chelsea architect Robin Osler. Without putting too sharp a point on it, Osler and the owner of I-20, Paul Judelson, have conspired to do everything right to this commodious space. They stripped every contour of the original space to its essence and added the basic architectural details' but avoided an incipiently ostentatious severity prevalent in spaces such as the Calvin Klein / Armani flagship stores on Madison Avenue. Everything at I-20 is kept down to a minimum basic outline. It's shaker simplicity looking just right for Hanley's images on the wall and his two and four, 1997 video installation in an ancillary room with the two video projectors sitting on their cardboard shipping cartons as low pedestals.
The ultimate testimony to the success of the space is the installation of numerous and diverse exhibitions to the complete satsfaction of artist, dealer and viewer.