These days, a lot of galleries are trying to capitalize on the popularity of graffiti and street art. Many of them fail, because they have no ties to the culture and don't really understand the work that they are trying to sell. Galerie Openspace in Paris is not one of these galleries. They consistently present exciting work by incredible artists, some of whom are certified legends like Doze Green, and others like Know Hope who are killing the game right now with impressive bodies of work.
The gallery is currently presenting a great solo show by street artist Nychos titled "Off the Wall" (May 2 - May 16). To learn more about Galerie Openspace and its programming, we spoke to its founders, Nicolas Chenus & Samantha Longhi.
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Can you tell our readers a little about yourselves? Where are you from, what did you both do before starting the gallery in 2012, and why did you decide to open a gallery in the first place?
Nicolas: I grew up in the East suburbs of Paris. I started doing graffiti in 1989 when I was 14. I started to document the Parisian graffiti scene in the early 90’s by taking tons of photos and collecting books, fanzines, spraycans, markers, t-shirts... I published my first magazine Time Bomb in 1993 and I worked with several fanzines in Europe. In 2003, I launched a new graffiti magazine titled Innercity in the French newsstands. It was a real bet. And it was a success. But after 5 years doing it, I started to get bored. I guess I was getting old…
In 2007, I organized the first exhibition in Paris of American artist SEEN. Again, it was a bet because at this moment there was no business for urban art in France. 2000 people came to the opening, the show was sold out. It was a big mess and a big success in the same time! I felt it was the beginning of a new era. It was before the urban art auction sales in France, and before the big institutional exhibitions... At this moment only few galleries were showing urban art and it was more stencil art.
In 2008, I founded Graffiti Art magazine which was meant to be the magazine of Urban Contemporary Art. The title is a reference to “Graffiti Art”, an institutional show I saw in Paris in 1991 that moved me for life. With GAM, we get interest into international artists coming from the streets and developing a studio work to be exhibited in galleries and museums. We focus on the art market. Graffiti Art is a quarterly publication, bilingual French/English, and available in newsstands and bookstores in Europe, US, Canada and Japan. I’m still as passionate as I was at the very first moments.
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In 2009, I met Samantha at an auction sale. She joined me in 2010 as a journalist, and she became the editor-in-chief. Our visions are complementary and make the richness of the magazine. She is my partner in work, in life, and the mother of our little baby Ulysse.
In the same while, I used to be artist manager during the 2000s and launched artists like Mist and Smash137. I was also art director of a Parisian gallery for almost three years where I curated a dozen solo exhibitions, notably the first solo shows of artists like Horfée and Tilt. It was lots of work and a great experience. I quit that gallery in 2012 because the gallery owner did not fulfill all commitments and was only interested in making money and not really in art. A few months later, Samantha and I decided to open our own gallery, Openspace.
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Samantha: I’m not so much into graffiti to be honest, it is sometimes a battle of tastes between Nicolas and I (laugh). I love Contemporary Art such as Land Art, but also conceptual artists such as Sophie Calle or crazy ones such as Ron Mueck. I have an Art Historian Masters degree, specialized in French stencil art at La Sorbonne, and I also have a license in Sociology. I curated my first exhibition in 2003, putting together 25 French stencil artists for Paris Pochoirs, and documented the movement for many years.
Ten years ago, I created with someone an independent publishing house doing street art books, and published my first book, Stencil History X. I was in charge of communication, distribution... like a Swiss knife as we say in French. Around the same time, I was in charge of the graphic design and street art section in the bookstore at the Centre Pompidou, Paris. In 2009, I quit my job and decided to be a professional art critic and curator. I became the art director of Itinerrance Gallery and invited all my artists there between 2009 and 2011, including Logan Hicks, M-City, Sten&Lex, C215, and Roa, whose first gallery show I curated.
When I met Nicolas Chenus, I immediately knew I wanted to work with him and to be involved in Graffiti Art magazine. We live a beautiful editorial adventure and a beautiful love story together. In 2012, after we both quit our gallery jobs, it was obvious to us to open our own gallery. It was the time we had to move out of our office and then Openspace was launched.
In the beginning we wanted to keep our Graffiti Art identity a secret because a lot of other galleries were jealous. But in the end, we just needed to admit we are more specialists than anyone; the magazine gives us a scientific credit. We are in touch every year with at least 400 artists worldwide, but we only actually work with a few of them. We are proud of the work we do, and this is important to us to have this whole activity to promote good artists and to stop with the idea of street art and graffiti. It is just art, and good art!
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You guys have worked with a lot of cool and interesting artists over the past three years, including Know Hope, Augustine Kofie, Doze Green, Stéphane Moscato, and now Nychos. Do they approach you, or are you guys always on the hunt for great talent?
SL: Considering we are into the network (more 20 years for Nicolas and 12 years for myself), some artists such as Nychos and Stéphane Moscato have been friends of ours for a long time. We just followed up with all of them throughout the years. We asked Augustine Kofie and Doze Green to collaborate with us when we launched the Graffuturism exhibition cycle in 2013, in partnership with Poesia, and since then we've represented their work in France. I’ve also admired Know Hope since he started, and I am very impressed by the evolution of his work. Nicolas and I went to his opening at Lazarides a couple of years ago, and we asked him to work with us a bit later.
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NC: We discovered the work of Polish artist Robert Proch online when we became interested in Graffuturism a couple of years ago, and it was an immediate crush. This guy is one of the most incredible geniuses of our time. Éric Lacan is also a huge discovery for us. He got in contact with us a few weeks after we opened the gallery in 2012. We were aware of his work in the streets as "monsieur Qui," but his studio work amazed us. We immediately scheduled a solo show. His skills are so diverse, from drawing, to painting, and paper-cut. He is one of the best French artists ever, and the nicest and funniest guy as well.
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What was it like working with Nychos on the recently opened "Off the Wall" exhibition?
NC: As Samantha said, I met Nychos for the first time in 2009. I interviewed him and he was on the cover of the issue #7 of Graffiti Art. We kept in touch over the years, he slept on my couch many times. I watched him traveling, evolving. The “Off the Wall” show has been postponed a couple of times. We were waiting for Nychos to be ready. We wanted the artworks just technically perfect, with a body of work that made sense. We didn’t want to do the show quickly between Art Basel Miami and Pow!Wow!. We prepare the exhibitions with our artists at least one year before the opening, and there are long, daily discussions.
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Nychos is a crazy and very good artist and also a very nice guy. We always spend good time together. And this time he is particularly happy because we provided him a wall to paint in Paris in a pretty special space. It is part of a huge abandoned train yard that used to be SNCF property (the French rail company). This spot was the Mecca for any Parisian graffiti writer! The whole place will be open to the public in a few weeks during the summer.
Are there any collaborations with other artists or galleries in the near future that you can talk about? Something in the United States, maybe?
SL: This year, we start a new collaboration with Momo, an American artist living in the New Orleans. He will have a solo show next October in our new gallery space. We give a huge importance to the place the exhibitions stand in. Last year, Augustine Kofie and Éric Lacans exhibitions took place in a 600-square-meter space, an old factory that we rent for occasions. It is the opportunity for the artists to do some installations and to go further in their plastic researches, since the gallery spaces in Paris are usually small. So we will move into a new location, a 260-square-meter space with several levels. It is a strangely beautiful space and we can’t wait to settle in. Momo will be able to exhibit some large canvases and an installation sculpture.
NC: We also have a couple of meetings in the next few weeks with new artists included one from New York, but nothing is done yet. What is sure in 2016 is that Barcelona-based, New York-native artist Ripo will have a solo show with us. We met in 2010 in Barcelona and really loved the body of work he’s been doing for a couple of years. It will be really interesting.
