Long Story Short

Long Story Short’s founder, Will Leung, grew up in this neighborhood, and the gallery sits inside a former music school run by the building’s longtime landlord, Ms. Moy — hence the unexpected signage outside.

Will didn’t begin in the art world. He worked in ecommerce and fashion before becoming an avid collector, eventually opening Long Story Short in 2020. What began as a personal passion quickly turned into a platform for emerging artists finding their footing in New York.

Sometimes the gallery shows not only the student but also the teacher. They’ve been known to let an established artist curate a show of younger artists they admire and mentor. For many of the artists they work with, it’s their first showing in NYC.

The program gravitates to artists who compress long stories into single works of art. Walk in, and you might encounter hyperrealist scenes that echo revolutionary canvases of 1800s France, paintings that nod to pirate movies while waving across the ocean to 1990s Japanese anime, or jeweled-toned landscapes with trompe l’oeil flourishes that pull you across the threshold into some place else entirely.

Every work here seems to pass a quiet test: would Will hang it on his own wall? He would. He does. That’s the whole idea.

Long Story Short's founder Will Leung doesn't take himself too seriously. His devotion to art and artists, though? That he takes seriously. While the market chases short-term gains and price increases, Will is building long-term relationships with artists. Since opening in 2020, the gallery has grown steadily, with spaces now on Henry Street, LaBrea Avenue in Los Angeles, and rue Charlot in Paris.