Welcome to 2021, and our first feature of the new year! To kick off the year, I had the privilege of getting to interview a woman I deeply admire and a force in the art world. With great pleasure, I introduce you all to Clara Darrason, I got the chance to ask her about her first gallery space in New York, The Chimney and ask a few questions about what it is like to be a galleriest. Clara was able to create an oasis in New York, which housed incredible site specific exhibitions. I hope you all enjoy this month’s feature and make sure to tune into my Instagram to see which works she selected for me to style!
Oil and Threads: How did your journey in the art world begin? Was there a particular work of art or exhibition that began your curiosity into getting into the field?
Clara Darrason: I grew up between the South of France and Paris, and was always exposed to art.
I interned for a gallery when I was 18, and was astonished by the tight community existing within and beyond the white walls. I perceived such venues as second homes for artists - ones in which their visions were understood, cared for, and given free reign.
O&T:When did you realize you wanted to create The Chimney and what was the mission or idea you wanted to convey with your space and with your different exhibitions?
CD: Back in May 2015, I noticed on Morgan Avenue, Brooklyn, an abandoned 23ft high brick building that had recently been refurnished with black stucco exterior and a brand new roll up garage door. Its roof was capped with a chimney. I was fascinated by this stand-alone black cube located at the edge of the Newtown Creek, a vestige of a former oil refinery. I approached the owner who accepted to let me use it during a weekend dedicated to art events and open studios in the neighborhood. After an incredible 48h turnout, I convinced the landlord to let me keep for several months, and without rent, what I had renamed “The Chimney”. I organized 8 exhibitions that first year, without heat or electricity installed in the venue, and started in parallel a full time day job in an Upper East Side gallery. Down the road, a formal lease was signed, small heaters and electric outlets installed, and over thirty exhibitions hosted…
The Chimney was thought as a gallery exhibiting predominantly site-specific installations, conceived by the artists with the building’s architecture in mind. I recently read “Listening to Stone: The Art and Life of Isamu Noguchi” by Hayden Herrera. She quotes the American-Japanese artist writing: “There is mystery in a cube, especially a black cube – when does it become a sculpture?” This could be a good definition of The Chimney. Or, to quote my friend and artist Matt Taber : “It was a container that epitomized its contents”.
O&T: As an admirer of The Chimney and the different exhibitions you have curated and hosted it appears to the viewer that the artists have a big role in the curation of the show and space. One of the aspects I loved most about visiting a new show at the space, was not knowing how it would appear, and I think this has to do with the relationships you cultivated with the artists who were invited to present their works at They Chimney. What do you believe as a gallerist is your biggest job or role in your relationship with your artists and what role you play in supporting them?
CD: Developing a relationship with The Chimney was an essential step for the artists invited to exhibit there. Multiple visits were necessary to domesticate the space, to absorb the absence of windows, the large steel beams, and the faded red of the bricks.
I see myself as a trait d’union, a “hyphen” between the artist and an audience. My greatest joys have stemmed from discussing a seemingly impossible project, witnessing its various stages of growth, and helping its maker to turn a vision into shape. The gallery is also a public space –free and open to all. It is a platform for new ideas to circulate, and for regular community gatherings.
O&T:What do you see for the future of the Chimney moving into the new year? In the Summer of 2019 you took the magic of The Chimney to a much larger space in Brooklyn to present a showcase of different artists which all blended so beautifully. Would you want to create more of these offset spaces or do you want to find another space which to call home?
CD: One of the core missions of The Chimney for 5 years was to introduce international artists to a New York audience through 4 hours long opening receptions, studio after parties, talks, performances, video festivals and workshops. This model could not exist in a pandemic stricken 2020, and the co-director of the space and myself decided to end this Brooklyn’s chapter last July.
We could not have imagined back in 2015 having an installation view of one of our exhibitions in full page of the New York Times, or two Artforum reviews, or to be on the cover of New York Magazine last December. It has been riveting to see several artists who, after exhibiting at The Chimney, moved on to present their work in prestigious institutions - like the Palais de Tokyo, the Whitney Museum, the Villa Medici, and the Hammer Museum.
The world has mutated several times in the past months, and continues to do so in violent and unexpected ways. Now is a time to let this first entrepreneurial experience unfold, all the while envisioning new projects between the United States and France.
O&T: What are some of your favorite art spaces in NYC to check out when you are exploring?
CD: Friday nights at the Met Museum. The Noguchi Museum in Queens. Galleries in Brooklyn I’ve loved over the years such as Microcope, where Yasue Maetake is having a solo exhibition until 03/14, or International Waters, located behind Newtown Radio.
O&T: And finally, as this is a place for the love of art and fashion, how would you describe your personal style and what are some designers or brands which you gravitate towards?
CD: I gravitate towards French classics: silk shirt / blouse, straight-leg black/blue jeans, leather jacket. Some of my favorite dresses are from the Parisian brand Sandro. I love thrift stores, and have acquired a coral dress I wore at my wedding and a customized Grease “Pink Lady” jacket with a Chimney logo on its back. This winter I am mostly wearing urban biker boots from Breaking Hearts Burning Leather, leather Lace up boots by Marie Laffont, and classic black Nike sneakers.
My own personal thoughts on Clara’s personal style, is sharp and chic. She knows how to dress for her body, which is no easy feat and has a great eye for finding pieces that stand out and create effortlessly cool outfits!
