Alone Gallery, a pop-up art space housed in a 2,400-sq. ft Hamptons warehouse usually occupied by the Tripoli Gallery, opened today with a new viewing model developed specifically for the current time of social distancing: no gallery staff are present and visitors—up to four people who already live together—will be alone in the exhibition space for 30 minutes at a time. “Alone Gallery, as a concept, grew organically out of my isolation during the first weeks of the Pandemic and in particular, the yearning I had to be back in the presence of artworks,” said the gallery’s cofounder Max Levai. The opening show is a suite of paintings by the New York artist Alex Katz.
One needs a free reservation to visit the gallery, made through their website, and complimentary masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer are available at a “sanitation station” outside of the entrance. A poster designed by the rapper and emoji portraitist Yung Jake provides a guide to the unique experience (click on the photo below for the full view). “Don’t worry about touching the keypad, they sanitizing after each viewing,” a visitor on the poster helpfully assures us. “Wow, it’s so great to be in the gallery all alone!” another says. “Let’s do the right thing and keep a safe distance from all the artworks. Do not touch anything!”
Alone Gallery poster Yung Jake