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Before I came to the city, I would spend most of my days and nights browsing through websites of innumerable New York galleries. Envoy Enterprises was one that I would visit quite often. As silly as it may sound, I remember always using images off of the site as background images for my mac book (don’t tell anyone). I moved to the city three years ago with a couch, two cases of clothes, and whatever money was in my bank account at the time. |
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“I have realized, over my time working with Envoy Enterprises, that it is better to find work at its raw source, rather than after it has achieved commercial success.”
Interior View, Envoy Enterprises, Courtesy of Tony Ufodia. Photo Credit: Tizrah Brott.
Before I came to the city, I would spend most of my days and nights browsing through websites of innumerable New York galleries. Envoy Enterprises was one that I would visit quite often. As silly as it may sound, I remember always using images off of the site as background images for my mac book (don’t tell anyone). I moved to the city three years ago with a couch, two cases of clothes, and whatever money was in my bank account at the time. In the first few weeks living here I went down to the Lower East Side and dropped off my resume at Envoy. I said something to the effect of “…I’d like to work for you for free,” after which I started working as an intern, and it snowballed from there.
I love being a part of Envoy Enterprises and believe that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be. We do our own thing here, and the public seems to respect that. The gallery owner, Jimi Dams, steps outside of what is expected by the ever-evolving New York art world. The outcome is always very positive and well received.
We tend to care about the effect of a work of art at Envoy, something which — possibly because of the limits of language—is rarely talked about as much as the formal qualities of the work itself. Often the effect is as essential to experiencing the work as its formal characteristics. I have realized, over my time working with Envoy Enterprises, that it is better to find work at its raw source, rather than after it has achieved commercial success. I guess what I am getting at is that the only legitimate definition of a work can be based on peoples’ individual responses; responses to the work, which are then put into individual opinions.
In 2006, Jimi felt the need to move out of Chelsea towards the LES, which was at the time close to vacant of any art galleries. He felt that Chelsea was no longer the place for Envoy Enterprises. We always tend to work with people who understand collaboration, openness, mutual respect, etc. That being said, I am sure that wherever we may relocate ourselves we will always find our little corner. I like the Lower East Side galleries as a whole simply because it is a more human environment. And like Envoy Enterprises, LES galleries tend to take more risks, something I’ve always been keen to.
At Envoy we have five curators, curating shows both in our space and elsewhere. It is a very pleasant environment, a think tank of sorts. For myself, when it comes to working with an artist, I need to see, through their work, the necessity to create it. There are a bevy of artists in the city and plenty more outside of it. I find that out of all these artists the ones with whom I connect and work are those that emit through their work a very genuine and primal need to create. When I come across a piece that gives off that overwhelming sensation, I find myself entirely surrendering to it; I let myself be lost within it. As a result, I find myself sharing ideas and concepts with some of the most amazing, creative, beautiful people with whom I have ever had the privilege of working.
