In a display window and closet in a Chinese kitchen supply store on Orchard Street and a storefront on Allen Street, artist-and-curator rebels stage experimental shows that stretch art world rules.
Photography: © Beholdr. Photo by Effie Liu.
Downtown ingenuity (and a little rebellion) plays out in the 24/7 window gallery and inside a hidden art closet tucked in a restaurant supply store – plus a second storefront space around the block on Allen Street. This isn’t only a gallery. It’s a counterculture in the making.
Here, artists are curators and curators are artists; the roles flow together. Shows are often styled with the drama and flair of a fashion storefront. And no singular point of view exists. It feels like experimental seas of ideas, with room for every kind of expression. It’s rare. It’s bold. And it's so New York.
Artist, writer, and educator Andrew Paul Woolbright (Brooklyn Rail, SVA) founded Below Grand in 2017 as a scrappy artist-run project. It began as Super Dutchess. In 2020, Woolbright rebranded the space to Below Grand. What started as a solo effort has grown into a constantly evolving curatorial collective — a mix of old-timers and newcomers, teachers and students, building something bigger than the sum of its parts.
Want to know where art is headed next? Here are the ones to watch.