Asked & Answered: OHWOW

The New York Times‘s T Magazine recently caught up with art impresarios Aaron Bondaroff and Al Moran for a short interview regarding the duo’s second gallery space in Los Angeles. Having held openings that included a 5,000 people show-up for the Neckface Halloween show in 2010, the gallery is just the beginning of bigger things to come. Below is an excerpt from the interview, which covers everything from Scott Campbell to future projects to the initial idea behind the LA space.

You have a store in the West Village, but you chose Los Angeles over New York as the location for your second gallery after Miami; why L.A.?

Al Moran: The more Aaron came out here, he kept saying, “I kinda like L.A.,” and that just caught fire. A lot of the artists we’re working with are New York artists that already had New York representation so it kind of made sense. L.A.’s on everybody’s mind right now, it’s a good time for these artists to come out here. Miami worked because we exported New York to Miami and created the dialogue, and we felt that we could create that same dialogue in L.A.

How did you end up here, on the border of Beverly Hills?

Aaron Bondaroff: I like Downtown Los Angeles, I like Chinatown, the vibe of it. It just seems not central enough for me. We wanted to kind of be in the middle, where if people from Venice and Santa Monica want to come it’s not too far for them, and same thing for the east siders. Plus, I spent so much time on those dirty streets of New York City, I don’t need to do that. We’ve got a yard here! I take my shoes off and walk barefoot.

Al Moran: When we found this place, it was just immediate. It was more about the space than the actual streets where we’re at. That’s another reason we chose L.A.: you can’t find a spot like this in New York.

What’s coming up?

Aaron Bondaroff: Our next artist is David Benjamin Sherry, a younger artist we work with. From Scott to David the work is so different. Then we have Sam Falls, May 15, and June 11 we have a group show of friends from New York City, the circle of friends that I came up with — Ryan McGinley, Terence Koh, Agathe Snow, the late Dash Snow.

Why was Scott Campbell the right artist for your L.A. debut?

Al Moran: Every artist that we work with is family, but we gave Scott his first show in Miami and it was wildly successful, and then the following year we did a show in New York on Crosby street. He earned the right to open up this space, because of his dedication to the work and everything we’ve done together and everything he’s given back to us.

The piece in its entirety is available here.