NYC Artist Carson Grant Joins the Pop-Up Gallery Movement

By Mara Lesemann

 

Carson Grant has been a fixture on the NYC art scene since the 1970’s, and he knows a good idea when he sees one. So this multi-talented artist - he’s also an accomplished actor - is thrilled to be part of the pop-up gallery movement with his two new shows this September at Tommy Chang’s Gallery 11 on Kenmare Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The LES is one of the city’s trendiest neighborhoods, and has emerged as a hub for whatever’s new.

 

Pop-ups have been around for a decade, but have surged in popularity recently as the city’s rents soar ever higher.  Artists were among the first to jump on the idea of short-term storefront displays, but theaters, restaurants, and clothing designers have adopted the idea as well. Booming neighborhoods - especially Tribeca, SoHo, and the LES in Manhattan along with Williamsburg in Brooklyn - are pop-up hot spots, with short-term performance and display spaces opening and closing regularly.

 

Carson Grant’s two Gallery 11 shows - “Bohemians @ The Beer Garden” runs September 1-14 and “Unknown Strangers” follows September 15-30 - are his first foray into the pop-up world and he’s excited to make the move. “Art is an ever-changing universe and we as artists need to continue to evolve. The concept of short term display spaces is a great one, and I’m thrilled to be part of it.”

 

Grant’s love of large canvasses - several of the paintings in the Gallery 11 shows are 48 inches x 36 inches - dates back to his involvement in the East Village Art Movement of the 1970s. Among his notable large scale works is his 2010 mural of Cape Cod’s Buzzard Bay estuary on the exterior of the former Ocean Spray Cranberry Factory, which measures 32 feet by 14 feet.

 

A native of Rhode Island, he first studied art as a child at the Rhode Island School of Design. He received a BA in Psychology and Art from Hunter College, studied computer and graphic design at Pratt Institute, where he later taught, and received a master’s degree in Sociodrama from the University of Connecticut. Grant has appeared in over 400 movies and commercials and is the First Vice President of the Guild of Italian American Actors (GIAA). Read more about his work at carsongrant.com.

 

“Bohemians @ The Beer Garden” runs September 1-14, with an opening reception on the 1st from 5 to 8 PM. “Unknown Strangers” runs September 15-30, with an opening reception from 5 to 8 PM. Gallery 11 is between Bowery and Elizabeth Street on the Lower East Side.