Clearing, a Bushwick Mainstay, Has Made the Move to Manhattan

After twelve years in Brooklyn, Clearing Gallery moved Wednesday from their home in Bushwick to the Bowery, an up-and-coming gallery district that already includes Bridget Donahue Gallery, Sperone Westwater and Amanita.

Clearing’s move marks the end of an era, perhaps not just for the gallery but for the age of optimism that drove mustachioed hipsters and sound artists across the bridge throughout the 2010s, but ended in Whole Foods take-overs and rent price upticks. And, though Clearing has a space in Brussels and Los Angeles, this impressive global reach doesn’t quite align with their old locale.

For founder Olivier Babin, the move represent something simple: Clearing is molting into its next phase.

“Artists, collectors, audiences, expect us at some point to grow up,” Babin told ARTnews, standing on the sidewalk outside of the new gallery space, referencing the “glass ceiling of Bushwick” that could make stakeholders in the gallery restless. “Artists have two or three shows in Bushwick and are eager to get the next one in the city.”

Artists will no doubt be pleased by Clearing’s new exhibition space. Three floors of white walls encased in an impressive glass facade, the Hegel’s Tree of Clearing’s logo looms high over Bowery. On the third floor, a small room overlooks the street, providing a nighttime exhibition space currently displaying lamps designed by Koenraad Dedobbeleer, a fitting tribute to the lighting shops that attract drunken revelers to peer into the windows or take a moody photo. In total, Clearing’s new space spans a luxurious 6,600 square feet.

Currently on view at Clearing is an exhibition, titled “Maiden Voyage,” that includes at least one work of each of the artists on their roster, from Belgian-based Harold Ancart to LA-based Daisy Sheff.

The new space is undoubtedly a boon for LA-based Adam Alessi, who will have his first solo exhibition in New York at Clearing’s Bowery space.

“I’m grateful I’m gonna have a show in Manhattan,” said Alessi. “When I made trips to New York I’d make the time to get to Clearing because I loved their programming but Manhattan is really where I’d spend all my time. It’s going to be great to have all that foot traffic.”