Detour Gallery on opening night in 2016. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See CLARIFICATION below
By JOHN T. WARD
Seven years after it opened in Red Bank with a splash, Detour Gallery is heading for the Highline.
The art gallery plans to relocate to open a new space in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, though much of its collection will remain in the converted warehouse owner Kenny Schwartz calls home, he told redbankgreen Tuesday.
Kenny Shwartz in 2016. Below, the gallery as seen from Broad Street, with the ‘Men on a Beam’ sculpture on its roof. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Schwartz, who transformed the Clay Street warehouse into a magnet for contemporary art fans, said his daughter, Shayna Schwartz, will reopen the display in a 3,000-square-foot space on West 23rd Street in the next month or so.
“We have so many client’s in the NYC area that we knew we needed to be in close proximity to them,” an email announcement co-signed by father and daughter said of the move. “This new adventure will allow us to spotlight and showcase the fantastic Detour artists with a broader audience, and a whole new space.”
But Kenny Schwartz, a 71-year-old former auto dealer, said he has no plans to sell or leave the Clay Street building, where he keeps an apartment.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “In the eyes of the government, this is a business. But for me, I’m living with my art.”
He’ll still allow in the occasional art lover who rings the doorbell, “so it’ll be an informal art gallery,” he said, but he doesn’t plan to mount any more exhibits, and turns down requests for event rentals as too much of a hassle.
“I’m not going to have shows here,” he said. “I’m too old, man.”
The 8,000-square foot building, visible from Broad Street, is something of a downtown landmark, known for its bold exterior murals and the delightful “Men on a Beam” sculpture on its roof. The Sergio Furnari piece, based on a famous 1932 photograph of steelworkers taking a lunch break on a steel beam during construction of Rockefeller Center, overlooks an adjoining parking lot.
The parking lot became an issue a year ago when its owner fenced in Schwartz’s Mini Cooper behind the gallery in a property dispute, leaving it stranded. The feud was resolved after developer Denholtz Properties, then under contract to buy the lot, agreed to grant Schwartz an easement for access to his backyard.
Schwartz also owns 141 Broad Street, home to the electric bike store EV Motion that opened there last year, and is a co-owner of the shop. His portfolio also includes the building at the corner of Drs. James Parker Boulevard and South Bridge Avenue, home to Fusion Basketball School.
CLARIFICATION:
March 21 Detour press release headline: “ANNOUNCING — DETOUR GALLERY IS MOVING TO NEW YORK CITY!”
Copy embedded in photo on press release: “DETOUR GALLERY IS MOVING TO NEW YORK CITY”
Original headline on this post: “RED BANK: DETOUR GALLERY LEAVING TOWN”
Kenny Schwartz now contends that redbankgreen‘s headline wrongly “makes it sound​ like Detour Gallery is leaving town.”
In fact, during our conversation with Schwartz Tuesday, redbankgreen sought to verify the facts of what “moving to New York” means. That yielded the information in the story, which Schwartz apparently does not dispute: that his daughter is opening a new gallery in New York, and that while most of Detour’s inventory will remain in Red Bank, he will no longer be doing shows here.
He now further emphasizes that his clients and other customers still will be able to view and purchase work in Red Bank.
“I just don’t want everyone to  think DETOUR is LEAVING RED Bank,” he said Wednesday. “It’s just not. It’s slower pace simply due to my age and retirement but it’ll be here.”
In light of the above, the original headline on this post has been reworded.
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