Gavin Brown APR/may 2000

Hidden amongst the hulking industrial buildings on far West 15th Street is an art gallery with no sign on the door. Inside, you might see an exhibit by Elizabeth Peyton, Piotr Uklanski, or Rob Pruitt. This is Gavin Brown’s Enterprise. Attached to the gallery is Passerby, a tiny bar with a gridded, multi-colored floor that lights up at odd intervals. If you drop by late enough, you might find anyone from Wolfgang Tillmans to Spencer Sweeney playing DJ there. Both of these sparkling entities are the creation of Gavin Brown, an art dealer whose ambition is to mix beauty with provocation.

index: So you want to make a music video. Why?

GAVIN: Because it’s something that can come and go under the radar. They get chewed up and spat out, and no one thinks about them ten minutes later.

index: It’s certainly a good time to be making one. Everyone thinks they’re over.

GAVIN: Exactly. And they can be made very cheaply.

index: You seem fascinated by mass entertainment.

GAVIN: I do sometimes feel a little discouraged by the tiny audience of the art world.

index: What about your bar, Passerby? Is it still something you’re interested in?

GAVIN: Yes — it just takes a lot of effort to keep it vital and moving. I think it’s been so intense in there for such a long period of time that people are getting worn out. They’re exhausted as soon as they step into the place. [laughs]

index: Passerby has crammed about three-and-a-half years of nightlife into two. Could you put the space to other uses, perhaps?

GAVIN: I’ve been thinking about hosting a lecture series there. I met a guy in Japan who does this sort of thing, because over there contemporary art isn’t really talked about. So he did a lecture series to help educate people. And in a weird way, contemporary art has worked so well in professional and business terms in New York that the discussion has become almost superfluous here, too. The last thing anyone wants to do is think about art works and what they mean. They just want to make sure a piece is viable and they can sell it. So it occurred to me that it would be really nice to have people come in and do some lectures. I’d also like to invite a particular selection of people to speak, not just artists.

index: You’re working on the artist Piotr Uklanski’s film, The First Polish Western. I’ve yet to fully grasp what that is.

GAVIN: It’s a real movie, and we’re working on a script now. It’s going to be the most beautiful film you’ve ever seen, and the most romantic, Poles being inveterate sentimentalists. Piotr is someone who puts his head down and keeps pushing until he gets where he wants to go, no matter what’s in front of him.

index: You showed me some images and a poster from it. I thought it was already finished.

GAVIN: That was just the visual treatment, which Piotr did just to start getting his hands dirty and also to explain to people what he’s thinking about. The photos were shot in the south of Poland, in the same place as The Sargasso Manuscript. This is a really extraordinary moment in Piotr’s life. I’m excited that he wants to make something that blows most movies away. We all know that artists can make great films — Schnabel has proven it.

index: Your gallery’s artists seem to be able to generate interest outside of the art world. Right now, Mark Leckey’s new videotape, We Are Bankside, is causing a little commotion. It was of these hardcore clubbers dancing around an apartment, but I couldn’t tell how much of it was staged.

GAVIN: It’s the same with Mark. He’s been a friend of mine since before he really bloomed as an artist. I find it thrilling to see this stuff come out of him. He’s also just started a band. They’ve got twenty-seven songs already, and their name — this is so beautiful — is Donatella.

index: That is good. You’ve known him a long time?

GAVIN: I met him in 1993, when he came through New York on his way to San Francisco. Actually, I had the same experience with him that I had with Piotr. When Piotr walked into the gallery one day with his slides, it was like an electrical bolt struck me. I just knew this person was a prince.