SPARK
SI-014, from issue 3: a subjective guide genuine conversation, 2022.
I don’t know. It’s more important to be busy than to be happy.
Leo Fitzpatrick is an ex-skater and actor who now runs Public Access, an accessible art gallery that is an antidote to NYC’s pretentious art scene; located in 8 St marks Place in New York City’s East Village.
HB It’s not too over-thought. Wanting to create a space for people to hang out is setting mood and atmosphere really. Outside of that, it happens on its own. I had experience having art shows before PA though.
UDÖ Is there something that you do differently than other galleries that are cold and make you feel like they don’t want to talk to you?
HB I grew up as a skateboarder, and you know, skateboarders are thought of as poor and dirty. People genuinely don’t like you walking into their art gallery because the things are pretty and you might mess it up. But I was always curious so I didn’t care about the way people looked at me. I’ve always gone to art galleries. One day I just started my own, maybe twelve thirteen years ago, called ‘Home Alone’. Did that for five years and that led me to going to another art gallery ‘Marlborough Contemporary’. This was a nice gallery and I was now behind the curtain. Saw that all galleries are dysfunctional. When that ended because of covid, I started my new gallery, PA.
UDÖ It feels to me that you got the recognition of a larger gallery by doing it on your own only to go back to your roots in St Marks!
HB I mean everything comes back to skateboarding because it is a very DIY culture. If you don’t see something in the world, you go create it. That’s how I always thought about everything. Having the courage to fail is the biggest part of it. What is the real definition of failure? One man’s success is another man’s failure, and vice-versa.
HB I’ve never dwelled on my past. Even though I don’t really think about past achievements I must have learned from every single one. I learned a lot of what I didn’t want to do. If I stopped moving forward that would be the ultimate failure really.
UDÖ What about the end of PA? I was reading about it and you say you asked yourself how much money you could afford to lose. Does that mean when that money runs out, does PA come to an end?
HB I am not looking to grow it, that’s for sure. I like the size we’re at. If it got bigger, I probably couldn’t do it because it is just a one man operation. It’s mostly about inspiring the young kids. When young kids come, I am inspired to keep going. I don’t really pay attention to the art world or worry about it. To me, I can’t even win or lose this game because I am not even playing the same game as the average art gallery. My values and my ideas of success are completely different.
HB Comes with age (laughs). When you are young you want to conquer the world and as you get older you become more content with having small victories. That sort of confidence comes with experience.
UDÖ Do you have nostalgia for the scrappier days of your New York life that you didn’t have as much experience with?
HB Me and my friends…we really thrive in bad situations. If the world is going to end, we really start to have fun. What is the point of sitting around and reading newspapers, if I can’t really control this thing? Might as well enjoy myself. We also all got old, so it’s harder to think back to the scrappier days. I also had more energy in the past. Now there are kids who are doing things similar to what I was doing. I just don’t know where they are doing it, or when. I am no longer invited to the party.
HB Well I have a day job and I run the gallery. That doesn’t leave me as much free time but I DJ. Play records. Enjoy music.
UDÖ I was reading a conversation between Blondey McCoy (English artist, skateboarder and model) and Gilbert&George (artist duo) in Kaleidoscope Magazine and here is a quote: “Blondey asks:
(BM) Would you trust a happy artist?
(G) No less than I’d trust an unhappy one.
(BM) Do you know any happy artists?
(G) I think Mark Gonzalez is generally cherry.”
Since you exhibit Mark Gonzalez’s work in Public Access as well, how do you surround yourself with generally cherry friends?
HB That’s complicated. I know Mark. He is not always happy. You know a lot of art comes out of stress and bad times, I might agree with George that I wouldn’t trust someone that is always happy. That comes back to failure. It’s not fun, if you succeed the first time around. You have to appreciate it.
UDÖ That comes back to pandemic, no? If everything is an utmost failure, you can do whatever you want because everything is failing anyway.
HB Everything is about balance. I don’t know, it’s more important to be busy than to be happy.
Follow Leo Fitzpatrick here
interview by Utkan Dora Öncül
Spark Interview-013