Hanging a show and the vagaries of independence

Waiting in front of La Belle Hortense with my paintings at the hanging, the morning of 1/1/2019.

For those of us who do not have the luxury of actual “help,” also known as other artists who work part time as “art handlers,” coming to  and transporting our work from the studio to wherever the work will be exhibited, the logistics of keeping the work safe from damage, the moving of the pieces from one spot to the other, and after that, the actual hanging of the work, all fall into our  necessary competencies, or perhaps to stay away from such trite Human Resources speak, our necessary things to do.

Financing the whole endeavor is the first part of it — the packaging necessary, the tape, the bubble wrap or whatever version of that one can afford, the cardboard boxes and supports, as well as, before the age of UBER, paying the taxi-driver to come (they usually linger on their way from their “station” so there is already a 30 euro on the counter, and for a 20 euro trip), and also the general necessities of hooks, wires, hangers, frames, all the rather mundane aspects of showing in alternative art spaces, financed by the artists themselves, and hopefully, without having to fork out another 15-30% commission of the sales that such shows sometimes require.

So yesterday morning, on the first lovely day of 2019, I transported the paintings for my show “Lumière Inépuisable” across town, to La Belle Hortense in the Marais.  Luckily, as everyone was still recuperating from the New Year’s Eve festivities, Parisian streets were mostly empty and my UBER driver, once an architecture student, now working in “restauration,” was able to get me across town without any delays or difficulties.  In fact, I arrived a few minutes early to see the city’s sanitation crew cleaning the very touristic street and side walks of la rue Vieille du Temple.  Imagine SoHo’s West Broadway, and you have a picture of what this once charming street of art galleries has become . . . Lacoste, Karl Lagerfeld, and what not, instead of your small quaint art galleries of “jadis.”

I waited at the door with my paintings, and luckily, instead of the 15 minutes in the cold that I was expecting, the space’s custodian arrived and let me inside so that I could start taking down all the packaging of my paintings, so carefully taped and pieced together just a few days ago.  Strange enough, the custodian spoke to me in English and I was so distracted, I replied in English without even realizing it.  Then, I apologized, and told him that if he wished, we could speak French.  He then told me that, in fact, he preferred speaking English, as he was from Eritrea.  

And so, while chatting with him about the few things I know about his homeland, telling him that a college friend of mine was with the Peace Corps there, the director of the space arrived and we started hanging the show.

A multi-purpose space, where there is a bookstore, a wine-bar, and a gallery space with tables for lingering or eating, or chatting.  That is La Belle Hortense.  Sort of like a more populace-friendly, and subway-accessible, version of Hauser and Wirth’s Somerset ecological resort for the uber-affluent, but in the Marais.  Truthfully, I have an inkling that sooner or later, most galleries that are not backed by billions of dollars, propped up by art-loving investors, or some version of that ideal, will have to diversify into an incorporated form of a multi-tentacled operation.  Who can afford a pristine white cube anymore?  And given the foot traffic that actually goes to galleries nowadays, are the advantages of a pristine white cube enough to offset its forbiddingly cold unwelcoming ambience?

So, with that said, the show is hung and open to the public.  La Belle Hortense is located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, in the Marais, close to the Saint Paul Métropolitain subway station, and a stone throw away from the Picasso Museum, at 31, rue Vieille du Temple.  The show is officially up until January 31, and the hours of opening are from 1 pm to 2 am daily.  Talk about friendly and accessible hours of operation!  The opening reception is tomorrow, Thursday, January 3, at 7 pm, all are welcome, of course.