In 2002 Kathy Grayson entered Jeffrey Deitch’s now-shuttered Deitch Projects armed with a Dartmouth degree in art history and studio art to ask the gallerist for a job. According to Deitch, he knew immediately that Grayson had that “it” factor. “She had the instinct, the ability to live the art,” he told Theme Magazine in 2010.
Grayson was manning the gallery’s reception desk when she curated a group show called “Dirt Wizards” at Bushwick’s Brooklyn Fire Proof. People noticed, namely Deitch and New York Times art critic Roberta Smith, who called the show “ambitious.” Deitch eventually took Grayson off the reception desk and made her co-director, where she continued to immerse herself in the art world through a network that included the late artist Dash Snow and man-about-downtown Aaron Bondaroff. She produced memorable shows like 2007’s “Nest,” where Snow, Dan Colen, and 30 volunteers shredded telephone books over three debaucherous days to recreate their infamous “Hamster’s Nests” — a byproduct of drug-filled nights of partying in hotel rooms, where they decimated any paper they could find — in the Deitch Projects space.
Deitch eventually signed on to head MOCA in Los Angeles and shuttered his New York gallery spaces, handing off his emerging artist roster to Grayson, who had decided it was time to open her own operation. Now located on the Bowery, Grayson’s the Hole is finding its footing in the current gallery landscape. If it’s any indication of the gallery’s progress, the June 7 opening of its latest exhibitions, “Portrait of a Generation” and “Andrépolis,” managed to stir up a crowd that flowed out the door.
But it’s not just Grayson’s eye for burgeoning talent and her anything-goes attitude that caught our attention. Her flowing hair that’s often dyed in My Little Pony shades of turquoise and pink, and personal style that combines downtown hip with gallery avant-gardism, make her ideal Tastemaker material. She told ARTINFO about her current nightspot of choice, the designers who clothe her when she has “to look fancy,” and more.
Click on the slide show to see Kathy Grayson’s Tastemaker picks.