{"id":401620,"date":"2026-04-28T14:18:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/401620\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T14:18:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:18:18","slug":"co-working-meets-art-at-brooklyns-newest-experimental-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/401620\/","title":{"rendered":"Co-Working Meets Art at Brooklyn\u2019s Newest Experimental Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feature<\/a><\/p>\n

Art hangs on cubicle walls and utility closets at The Gallery, an exhibition space housed in a former guitar string-maker\u2019s office.<\/p>\n


\n \"Aaron
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Co-Working
\n The Gallery is a new experimental artist-run exhibition and co-working space. (all photos Aaron Short\/Hyperallergic)<\/p>\n

Brooklyn\u2019s latest experimental art space is more fun than a trip to the office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the fourth floor of a former Prospect Heights automobile service station that was converted into creative industry offices<\/a> a decade ago, an intentionally misspelled sign reading \u201cThe Gallry\u201d greets inquisitive visitors.<\/p>\n

At first glimpse, The Gallery: WeWork (oralmoral) resembles a quirky incarnation of a millennial co-working space. There\u2019s a jaunty painting of a whale by Michael Egan opposite Anna K.E. Tamada\u2019s enormous satellite speaker with a sound installation at the entrance. A handful of artists tap away on their laptops on tables in a large common area as the aboveground Franklin Avenue Shuttle rumbles past.<\/p>\n

The closer you look, the more unsettling it seems. Eerie video installations, canvases, drawings, and sculptures by more than 40 artists hang on cubicle walls or have been tucked into utility closets, HVAC systems, and a metal recycling bin throughout the office. Whiteboards are scrawled with motivational phrases and sales-friendly slogans from a previous tenant.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cayetano Ferrer, “Foundation 5” (2023)<\/p>\n

Florian Meisenberg, the show\u2019s curator, compared the messages to dystopic \u201ccave paintings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t change anything, I love it,\u201d Meisenberg told Hyperallergic. \u201cThese cubicles appear to me like remnants of bureaucracy and business models. It feels like we stumbled upon this place and found signs of life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ridgewood-based painter and installation artist long envisioned putting together an exhibition featuring work by artists he had admired and met since moving to New York from Berlin in 2010.<\/p>\n

He curated a show at Berthold Pott Gallery in Cologne<\/a> in 2024, which he called a \u201ctransformative experience\u201d for his practice. He wanted to do something similar in his adopted homeland, but faced several obstacles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a vision of a post-corporate space, but \u2026 we had no money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Brian Oakes, “Lamp 18” (2026) <\/p>\n

That often marks the end of many ambitious creative endeavors in the city. But Meisenberg lucked out thanks to Brooklyn\u2019s moribund commercial market<\/a>, where one out of five<\/a> spaces remained empty at the end of last year, and a chance conversation with his Queens studio landlord. Synoptic Management owner David Steinberg<\/a> had been looking for new tenants in his three-building office complex<\/a> on 1000 Dean Street after the guitar-string manufacturer D\u2019Addario<\/a> departed their fourth-floor suite months ago.<\/p>\n

Meisenberg wrote a pitch for a temporary gallery last summer, then reminded Steinberg about his idea on April 1. This time, Steinberg agreed and handed over the keys to the space two days later. (Steinberg did not reply to an email requesting comment.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t say, \u2018Yes that\u2019s great, let\u2019s do September,\u2019\u201d Meisenberg said. \u201cI was ready for it, but I was not ready for it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Anna K.E. Tamada’s speaker installation\"\"A jaunty painting of a whale by Michael Egan<\/p>\n

Meisenberg called several dozen artists who visited the space and agreed to create or ship site-specific works on short notice. After spending $350 on a U-Haul to transport some of the pieces, they completed the back-breaking install in a week for the April 10 grand opening, which 600 people attended, according to Meisenberg.<\/p>\n

More artworks continue to be added each week, and Meisenberg plans a series of programs including live podcast shows, poetry readings, lectures, and performances satirizing white-collar corporate culture. There\u2019s a screening of artists\u2019 works on April 28, a \u201cTeam Building\u201d event on May 2, and more before the exhibition closes on May 24.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Gallery also serves as an actual co-working space for people who subscribe to its online platform<\/a>. The service is free, but spots are limited to 10 per day.<\/p>\n

Meisenberg hopes The Gallery will stay on Dean Street a bit longer this spring, but he is already contemplating his project\u2019s next move in another commercial space. \u201cI find the dilapidated office a perfect place for art,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like clearing away for something new to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feature Art hangs on cubicle walls and utility closets at The Gallery, an exhibition space housed in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-401620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}