A story is the difference between an artwork and a splattered tarp. If hung on a canvas and set in a gallery, a Jackson Pollak painting can sell for millions. However, if left in the back of a moving truck, the average person wouldn’t pay over a few dollars for it. The proper aesthetics in a space can tell the story to sell anything from art to coffee. When someone buys artwork to hang in their living room, they want to be able to share its story with their dinner guests. Similarly, the aesthetics in a coffee shop are designed to induce a certain feeling or share a mission statement to differentiate itself from its competition. Many galleries in the Chelsea area are carefully designed to share part of the artist’s intentions or methods behind their artwork. This attention to small details often bolsters the story behind the art that helps it sell without a salesman.

 

In the Alexander Gray gallery on West 26th Street, the white cube-like gallery is not the only geometric shape on display. In the center of the first floor stands two eight-foot transparent sketch-like sculptures by Teresa Burga. The two vase sculptures are the exact three-dimensional copies of two sketches that hang on the wall. The room’s white background creates the illusion that the vase is not an empty three-dimensional sculpture, but rather just an enlarged sketch that is still hanging. Additionally, the art on the other side of the gallery parallel’s a similar theme of scale and dimension.  An intricate geometric checkered board gives the illusion that it is leaping off the wall beside its small two-dimensional sketched sibling hanging on an adjacent wall.

Teresa Burga Vase Sculpture

These examples of sketches hanging beside the finished work as intended by the artist help illustrate the story without a title or a salesman. On the two vase sketches, the proportions are carefully written beside the sketch. With these proportions, the sketches retell the process behind the sculptures’ creation. However, the decision to hang up the sketch may not have been up to the artist. Most probably, the art gallery made a conscious decision to add this extra flavor, or story line, to the art when staging the gallery to help the artwork sell.

Vase sketch with dimensions

 

For the second art gallery, the setting was a bit more unique. The photographs on display are visible from the entrance, but only once your eyes glaze across the rest of the warmly decorated space. In the center of the gallery visitors can sit on a brown leather couch with a Parisian carpet underneath it. The exposed vents and stone ceiling reflect the industrial Chelsea atmosphere. Instead of the white cubed walls, the color is a warm living room beige that is closely tied to the pictures and the galleries’ purpose.

 

Similar to the geometric shapes depicted in Teresa Burga’s sketches, Ashok Sinha’s aerial photographs show the geometric landscapes of Nevada, Minnesota, Utah and California. Each of the four pictures is in a different hue and represent a different season. The shots were taken from an airplane while flying from New York to Los Angeles in the winter time. The colorful display of the four seasons through aerial photography is perfectly in tune with the warm living room aesthetic of the gallery. Furthermore, the gallery is not just reflective of the aesthetic of these colorful photographs. Better yet, the pictures and the furniture in the gallery are aligned with the purpose of the space: to sell the seasonal hot cup of Pumpkin Spice Latte, a Starbucks beverage.

Ashok Sinha’s Aerial Photographs: California and Minnesota

Starbucks at 525 W 26th Street

Nevada desert and Utah winter landscapes

 

In both galleries the space is a strong component of the viewers experience. In the Alexander Gray gallery, the white walls acted as the backdrop to the black transparent sculpture – ultimately creating the two-dimensional illusion for the audience. Additionally, the layout of the small sketches immediately next to the full-size focal pieces help demystify the illusionary art and ultimately sell it to its audience. Similarly, in the Starbucks at 525 West 26th Street, the aesthetic choice to depict seasonal photographs promote the marketing campaign for the store’s flagship drink, the Pumpkin Spice Latte. With Ashok Sinha’s aerial depictions of the four seasons, this space creates an experience for the viewer that helps the customer enjoy their seasonal hot drink on the cushioned leather couch.