{"id":6823,"date":"2025-05-15T21:52:52","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T21:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/15\/u-haul-gallerys-mobile-model-takes-art-on-the-road\/"},"modified":"2025-05-15T21:53:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T21:53:06","slug":"u-haul-gallerys-mobile-model-takes-art-on-the-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/15\/u-haul-gallerys-mobile-model-takes-art-on-the-road\/","title":{"rendered":"U-Haul Gallery\u2019s Mobile Model Takes Art On the Road"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By turning rental trucks into exhibition spaces, U-Haul Gallery challenges the conventions of brick-and-mortar galleries. Jack Chase of Uhaul Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the jam-packed New York art week, you may have spotted a nondescript U-Haul truck parked outside any one of the city\u2019s main fairs or high-profile gallery openings. It stands to reason\u2014U-Haul, with its relatively affordable van and truck rentals, has a role to play in the art market. If, however, you think that role is necessarily logistics, prepare to be surprised. In a week dense with art and spectacle, we ducked out of an overcrowded Michael Armitage opening at David Zwirner to see what exactly was drawing an audience to one such truck\u2014its cargo bay wide open and people drifting in and out, sometimes with beers in hand.<\/p>\n

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What we found was U-Haul Gallery, a nomadic initiative experimenting with an alternative mobile model for showing and circulating art while sidestepping the punishing overhead of brick-and-mortar space in the city. \u201cThe gallery was born out of frustration with the cost of space in New York City,\u201d director and founder James Sundquist<\/a> told Observer.<\/p>\n

The busy week of art fairs marked the one-year anniversary of this slyly resourceful gallery, which has been able to deliver programming to virtually any hot pocket of real estate for the modest price of a truck rental\u2014$29.99 per day. \u201cThe very first show took place in SoHo, to reclaim a space historically home to many artists who have since been priced out,\u201d Sundquist said. \u201cWith this truck, we create a temporary architecture to enact the gallery.\u201d<\/p>\n

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U-Haul Gallery presenting its show in Chelsea during a busy week of art fairs. Jack Chase of Uhaul Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The inaugural show was conceived as a one-off: more performance art than actual gallery. However, the audience response was unexpectedly enthusiastic, according to Sundquist, which gave them the confidence to keep going. \u201cI think people enjoy the freedom of it\u2014the punk quality, the sense that the bounds of the art world can be disrupted in a guerrilla fashion,\u201d he said, adding that artists have embraced the gallery\u2019s approachability and agility, often becoming co-conspirators in shaping the exhibition as it unfolds. \u201cThere is always a plan, but the plan always changes. We can adapt to the situation on the ground in ways a stationary gallery cannot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since its founding, U-Haul Gallery has staged several shows, mostly timed with New York\u2019s better weather. Last October, Sundquist teamed up with Jack Chase<\/a> and Victoria Gill<\/a> for \u201cThe Show of Stolen Goods,\u201d marking the first time outside curators took the wheel. \u201cJack and I developed an incredible synergy during that show, and I felt together we could keep pushing the gallery into new terrain,\u201d he said. Following that collaboration, Chase officially joined the gallery as head of global strategy. \u201cWe\u2019ve since been partners in crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to programming, Sundquist reflected that the gallery is writing its story as it goes. \u201cWe attract artists who are interested in exploring outside the traditional gallery space\u2014physically, but also mentally and spiritually. The artists want to work in the alternative conditions of the U-Haul, and we develop a collaborative approach to each show.\u201d<\/p>\n

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SEE ALSO: Satellite Collective\u2019s Kevin Draper and Lora Robertson On Making Art in Turbulent Times <\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The show they presented last week was a sharp testament not only to their collaborative model but also to their knack for problem-solving and real-time adaptability. Playing across multiple screens mounted in the back of the truck was Ben Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s conceptual video work Today, Last Year<\/i>, featuring four days from his Panopticon<\/i> endurance project, in which he recorded his waking life for an entire year using an AXON police body camera. In these videos, Nu\u00f1ez captures the flat banality of daily life with an unflinching intimacy\u2014disturbing, solipsistic and shot through a device more commonly associated with social violence than self-reflection. Echoing Foucauldian thought on the embodiment of power structures and the internalization of surveillance, the project interrogates the entangled relationship between digital media, social codes and identity construction, dissolving the boundary between self and screen until the online double feels more real than lived experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a conceptual video show that presented new technical challenges,\u201d Sundquist said, citing the screens\u2019 power requirements and the logistical quirks of outfitting a U-Haul to present screen-based works. \u201cWe arrived at a presentation that really resonated with the audience. We want to do shows that will challenge us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ben Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s showing of \ud835\ude1b\ud835\ude30\ud835\ude25\ud835\ude22\ud835\ude3a, \ud835\ude13\ud835\ude22\ud835\ude34\ud835\ude35 \ud835\ude20\ud835\ude26\ud835\ude22\ud835\ude33 marks the artist\u2019s first exhibition with the gallery. Jack Chase of Uhaul Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Sundquist envisions the gallery as a vessel for working with cultural space as a medium. \u201cI am interested in expanding the terrain of the Gallery,\u201d he said, noting that while the art world is very small, the world itself is vast. \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of room to grow, and it just requires curiosity. We are not bound to a brick-and-mortar space, so we can present the show in multiple locations on the same day. It is imperative that we stay on the move.\u201d<\/p>\n

The low-overhead model allows U-Haul Gallery to take bigger risks with the work it presents, while also offering artists a larger cut of sales than the traditional gallery structure would ever permit. And when it comes to collectors, Sundquist says the tide is turning. \u201cIt has taken persistence. We are uncouth but very serious. We are a real business and sell work at accessible price points.\u201d The programming may be mobile, in other words, but the intent is anything but casual.<\/p>\n

Accessibility is central to U-Haul Gallery\u2019s ethos. That applies to prices, which range from $3 for a sticker to thousands for unique artworks, as much as to the audience. \u201cEveryone can buy in and participate,\u201d Sundquist says. \u201cWe want to be approachable and welcoming to everyone, not just the art-world audience. We love doing shows at street-level because it invites anyone and everyone.\u201d Notably, U-Haul Gallery doesn\u2019t only set up outside art fairs to catch the in-crowd but also parks outside Madison Square Garden during Knicks games, bridging cultures rather than catering solely to collectors. \u201cThe art world is an island, and we are building a bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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Accessibility remains central to U-Haul Gallery\u2019s ethos. Jack Chase of Uhaul Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Moving forward, U-Haul Gallery will continue its unofficial shadow circuit alongside the city\u2019s art fairs. \u201cWe will continue to get kicked out of Frieze,\u201d Sundquist quips. \u201cWe have already presented in Los Angeles with \u2018Drive-In,\u2019 a group show from February, and have plans to present in London, Paris and Miami this year.\u201d Several solo shows are also in the works for New York, while the gallery remains committed to featuring artists local to each city.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the gallery is gearing up for its own fair: applications are now open for the U-Haul Art Fair, scheduled to coincide with this year\u2019s Armory Show in early September. Billed as a low-cost alternative to the city\u2019s other fairs, the event will feature ten booths\u2014each housed in its own truck\u2014all parked on the same street in what promises to feel like an unpermitted block party. \u201cAs always, we will capitalize on the art world buzz and use our disruptive model to draw attention to the fair.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Applications for the inaugural edition of the U-Haul Art Fair can be found here<\/a> and are due by July 1.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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