gratin

Great art excites the eye. Sometimes it fills the whole body with visceral longing. Like that feeling of being at a really fun, kind of fancy party where everybody is impossibly gorgeous. Like your living in a dream, while living the dream.

Love something with complete abandon, and it will love you back is the gallery’s curatorial philosophy. And the art is sexy, titillating, and corporal even when the subject is not. Think dopamine-enducing, drool-worthy nudes. Effortlessly cool black and white photorealist paintings. Cinematic, dreamy visions of a road trip that capture the feeling of looking out the windshield, feet hanging out the window.

Gratin is all about Taste, with a capital T. They showcase a mix of artists in their 20s, along with more established artists to amp up the magnetism. And they’re creating a new kind of charismatic and urbane scene – one that, we wager, people will be excited about for years to come.

Talal Abillama, Gratin’s founder, knows art. As the son of notable Lebanese collectors with homes in both Beirut and Paris, he has always lived and breathed with it. He forged his personal taste early on and started collecting art at the age of 15. He founded Gratin’s Avenue B space in 2022. He was just 25. He opened his second space on Grand Street in 2024, continuing on his mission to take the art world by storm.