Gavin Brown Opens New Harlem Gallery with Joan Jonas Show

Gavin Brown, a leading New York gallerist, has opened a new three-story exhibition space in Harlem at 439 W 127th Street, a former brewery. The inaugural show is a solo exhibition of Joan Jonas (b. 1936), one of America's most significant living artists, featuring her largest New York presentation in a decade. The ground floor displays memorabilia, sculptures, and ink drawings made through her body during performances. The second floor houses the installation "Reanimation," previously seen at Documenta 13 in Kassel in 2012, with crystal droplets creating an atmospheric effect. The third floor presents three narrative videos documenting small performances, two of which were shown at the Fundación Botín in Santander, Spain, the previous year. This marks Jonas's largest new project since her US Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale. Brown retains his other New York space in the Lower East Side and his gallery in a deconsecrated church in Trastevere, Rome. The opening featured a Sunday brunch in the adjacent hangar. The move to Harlem, initiated two years ago, represents a bet on the neighborhood's potential as a new gallery destination beyond Chelsea.