| Leah Oates: You have a background as an artist and opened Dam Stuhltrager with several other artists. Leah Stuhltrager: Actually two artists. My partner Cristobal Dam and myself started the gallery. Cris and I met while studying art at Parsons. When rent on our mousey Lower East Side apartment (a crawlspace actually) soared as fashion boutiques moved in, we had to find an affordable home as two artists without a pot to piss in. We found what we were looking for in Williamsburg, Brooklyn—a space with low rent and great access to our detestable jobs and college. |
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An Untraditional Method – Leah Oates
Leah Oates: You have a background as an artist and opened Dam Stuhltrager with several other artists.
Leah Stuhltrager: Actually two artists. My partner Cristobal Dam and myself started the gallery. Cris and I met while studying art at Parsons. When rent on our mousey Lower East Side apartment (a crawlspace actually) soared as fashion boutiques moved in, we had to find an affordable home as two artists without a pot to piss in. We found what we were looking for in Williamsburg, Brooklyn—a space with low rent and great access to our detestable jobs and college. The space was a short hop from the L, right across from the noisy on and exit ramps to the BQE. Ten years ago, the convenience of the location and cavernous hollow hideaways under the highway meant the corner of Marcy and Hope was prime for drug trafficking and prostitution. Add to that the other notorious attractions of the block at that time—a very sketchy "park," an abandoned gas station… Well, all these unfit things added up to rent for the storefront fitting us just right. It was a good five years before our corner of Williamsburg started to clean itself up and for Cris and I to transform our studio space into a gallery.
LO: How does this make your space different from a space that is opened by someone with an art history degree for instance?
LS: Cris and I have different experiences that we bring to the gallery. Ironically, we both are rooted in art history backgrounds, just acquired from untraditional means. Cris worked for ten years as a GC with some of the most notorious dealers in New York and some of the most recognized artists in the world. He learned what steps previous generations of art elite took to be successful. I have a goodie bag of an education to draw from. Degrees in Art and Literature propelled me into the commercial art world in its most basic form: advertising/marketing.
I grasp who, why and what compiles art history, but essentially am fixated on how a particular piece, creator, dealer, movement becomes a part of that history. I also have a science degree needed for teaching. I taught art in public school for five years in Brownsville at a very tough school. The students demanded I become an expert in selling the allure and relevance of art history, which they progressively came to love and seek on their own. Cris and I have always found ourselves taking a different route from point A to B. We’ve bucked the traditional steps to becoming a gallery—but by no means through ignorance. Perhaps, at Dam, Stuhltrager, we have had the wilder and more unwieldy journey—and most definitely a fun one thus far. We move road signs and take risky side paths but are steadily crossing prized finish lines.
LO: Dam, Stuhltrager has been open for over eight years and is an important part of the Williamsburg art scene. How have you seen the Williamsburg art scene change over the last ten years?
LS: Maturing from two artists putting on shows in a storefront to a professional gallery was a natural one and took years. When someone asks how long we have been open, I reply, "It’s been two years since we made the decision to be a gallery but we have been around for a long time." Leaping from a fledgling who was a good swimmer to a professional racer occurred with redefining goals. Within months of deciding that we wanted our artists to be seen outside of Williamsburg, international museums, institutions and galleries were requesting work. As momentum gathered, our home base in Brooklyn tripled in size, mentally and physically.
We accredit part of our success to being amidst the contagious energy of Williamsburg. We could move to Chelsea. A small space in one of the many high-rises to choose from in Chelsea is actually much cheaper than our rent in Brooklyn. Yet, it could only be Brooklyn for us. Our hearts, our source, our home is the place where art is made.
Williamsburg was nurtured by many from womb to birth. Dam, Stuhltrager wasn’t a founding mother or father. There were greats ahead of us whose shoulders are broad and strong. We came along just in time to see Williamsburg start to walk on its own.
LO: Williamsburg has a reputation of being overrun by hipsters now as opposed to in the past. Do you think this is a true representation of the neighborhood?
LS: As opposed to where…? Soho, Chelsea, Tribeca, The East Village, Greenwich Village? Cris and I are in Williamsburg because of the art that is being produced and discovered under our noses. The neighborhood has changed and is changing. Our traffic now is much more diverse than ever before.
LO: There has been a recent exodus of local galleries moving to Chelsea for instance. I’m sure they see this as having finally arrived but are they really just joining the pack? What are your thoughts on this?
LS: For a gallery, Chelsea rents run parallel to Williamsburg rents. I can’t speak for any other galleries, but our business decision to stay in Brooklyn was twofold. We considered expenses, evaluated where money was best spent and decided our investment (blood, sweat and dollars) would yield the most return in Williamsburg. This past year in Williamsburg has been very, very, very kind to us.
As far as running in packs go—Front Room, Jack The Pelican, Parker’s Box and Pierogi are all smart, fearless comrades who aren’t as consumed with "arriving" as they are with "delivering." In the art world there are always packs, and pacts. I’ll join the wolves who go into the jungle with the least and come back with the best feast over the dogs frothing at the mouth, napkins on their laps.
LO: Dam, Stuhltrager really commits for the long term with the artists it represents. Many other spaces are a bit more fickle if an artist does not sell well. What are the benefits of sticking with your artists for the long term?
LS: We are focused on exhibiting contemporary art. What this means to my partner and I differs from how contemporary art is defined in the glossary of an art history book. We are looking for what’s next, not what’s current. Supporting art on new frontiers is a long-term commitment. We are patrons to the possibilities in art that have an impact beyond wallets. Fortunately, artists Cris and I believe in have not let us down. They create art that has propelled them, and likewise us, into a year full of monumental museum exhibits and acquisitions. Our gallery has great artists associated with it. In our opinion, great artists is the most important thing a gallery can have.
LO: You are very modest yet also very savvy at the same time. How has this combination evolved for you over the years of having the space open? What is your approach to dealing with artists, collectors, critics and the art public? How does your approach differ with artists as opposed to critics lets say?
LS: I don’t know if I have the wardrobe or refinement to be savvy. I am more from the street than of the street. As far as modest, I just don’t put much stock in someone who takes his or herself too seriously. I certainly don’t handle egos with grace. Where the art world sends you to the moon, the real world brings you back to earth. Growing up in Philly and teaching in Brownsville taught me that you are only as good as your next move and that you are never better than the next in line.
Over years, the gallery team has grown very close, becoming strong enough to be ourselves and risk all in public. We share the guttings and glory. Everyone is treated with respect—no matter who walks through the door. Artists have turned critics, the public into collectors. The biggest changes made within the walls of the gallery were devised to safeguard the gallery’s heart and soul.
LO: Who are some of the artists you are showing right now and whose work are you excited about, how and why?
LS: Mark Esper, Ryan Wolfe, Ruth Marshall, Michael Schall, Mark Andreas and Loren Munk are all headed into a year of big museum, institution and gallery exhibits. It’s hard for me to keep up with these artists—they are already halfway through the roof!
LO: What other galleries, art spaces or fairs are you interested in and who do you think is also showing good, innovative work?
LS: Fairs have different personalities just as galleries do. I am a huge fan of -scope fairs for emerging artwork. I feel akin to -scope’s desire to take risks, never to just repeat a good performance and yet to remember to enjoy life. I’m also a fan of a handful of galleries including my aforementioned Williamsburg neighbors as well as other notables like Feigen and Spencer Brownstone. Ed Winkleman (Plus Ultra) is also very interesting to me.
LO: What advice would you give to artists or emerging curators on how to get their work out into the world? I think that many think of the NYC arts scene as being more closed that it actually is and thus do not try too hard to get their work out. What are your thoughts on this?
LS: A thorough and clearly articulated presentation is my golden rule.
LO: What does the gallery’s upcoming schedule look like and what can we anticipate from Dam, Stuhltrager in the upcoming years?
LS: You will have to come and see! We have a high energy lineup with solo shows by crowd favorites Loren Munk, Ruth Marshall and Mark Esper up next in Brooklyn. We also will be taking our taste of Brooklyn international—to Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Istanbul before this year is done. You can also see major exhibits of our artists in New York, Boston, Indianapolis, Florida and Kentucky in the next six months.
