The East Village’s newest gallery is also it’s smallest and possibly most ingenious. A mere 4 by 14 feet, The Stand occupies a former beer storage shed perched on the side of a bodega on the corner of East 7th Street and Avenue C. The gallery is the creation of Lori Der Hagopian and represents a culmination of a long-crafted vision to exhibit art in a direct, accessible manner.
The art presented also is of a radically inclusive nature. Der Hagopian is a champion of the outsider and the underrepresented. Works of homeless artists and children are placed side by side with those of the occasional established professional in a way that highlights the common denominator of focused intention and deep personal investment.
Open to the street, jutting out into the sidewalk, the space offers a welcome invitation to all passersby, generating clientele of a diversity that few galleries could hope to match.
Check it out.