Art9 Comics LLC will open Philippe Labaune Gallery, a European comic art showroom, in West Chelsea this month.
Labaune will occupy the 1,250-square-foot ground floor of the retail space at Douglaston Development’s 555 West 23rd, replacing the Victoria Miro Art Gallery. Joshua Young, vice president of market rate operations at Clinton Management, the property management arm of Douglaston, represented the landlord in the two-year lease. Art9 Comics LLC represented itself in the transaction. The asking rent was $9,000 a month.
“The addition of Philippe Labaune Gallery to West Chelsea is not only the start of galleries reopening, but continues to embed Douglaston’s long-standing history of facilitating and supporting art opportunities in the gallery district,” said Young. “The COVID-19 pandemic posed increased hardship and challenges to the arts industry as a whole, and we are focused and dedicated to help aid in the sector’s revival by focusing on even more unique and creative avenues to bring gallery spaces to the neighborhood. We want nothing more than to see the galleries and artists succeed, which is why we welcome any new or established artists or galleries to collaborate with us to make it happen.”
Philippe Labaune Gallery will bring original European comic art via periodic exhibitions and programming to Douglaston’s 15-floor, 336-unit luxury residential condominium. This will be the first permanent space for Philippe Labaune, the Founder of Art9 Comics, who for nearly two decades built his personal collection of original comic pieces spanning the last 70 years through auction houses, galleries and collectors. This space will serve as the only proper gallery in the U.S. that is solely dedicated to original comic art, Douglaston said.
“It was so wonderful that I was able to share the artwork of more than 50 of the most renowned comic artists from all over the world, like Hergé, Moebius and Enki Bilal, at an exhibition in Chelsea last year, but with my own gallery I will be able to do that on a regular basis,” said Labaune. “And my new space is in the perfect location nestled in the Gallery District.”
