CROWN HEIGHTS — A new gallery space opened last week on Nostrand Avenue with plans to bring rotating exhibits, music, lectures and workshops to the neighborhood.
The “happylucky no.1” gallery opened on Nov. 11 at 734 Nostrand Ave. near Park Place, in the former location of a Caribbean health food restaurant, said gallery director Liane Fredel.
She said the name of the new art space is an homage to that operation, but also a play on words; she hopes visitors “take out inspiration,” from the Crown Heights space she’s been building for two years.
“It’s hopefully very welcoming … and open, not just to the artists’ work, but also to the community,” she said.
Passersby will know the new gallery by its distinctive facade, decorated with circular slate shingles and a large, sunflower-shaped neon sign. Inside, the rectangular gallery is bookended by large glass doors, with nothing but a few rows of chairs to break up the exhibition space, currently showing large photographs by artist Matthew Arnold of current-day World War II battle sites in North Africa.
Fredel plans to bring in a new artist every month and will also host musical performances, talks and special artistic works, like a large sand mandala created by a Tibetan monk in the space for the gallery’s opening.
But the exact schedule and line-up at happylucky is a bit open-ended, she said. Generally, Fredel is interested in bringing “curiosities of the contemporary mind” to the neighborhood where she’s lived with her family for the last eight years.
“You create a space and you hope for the best,” she said.
Fredel, who herself is a graphic designer and “art lover,” is working with artist Katerina Marcelja and a team of other artistic advisors to curate the space.
The happylucky no.1 gallery is free and open to the public Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 734 Nostrand Ave. For more information, visit their website at happyluckyno1.com.
