Communicating in a Cave
By Grant Moser
Naoki
Iwakawa
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I walked through a small door into a large, high-high-ceilinged
room in the center of which sat an oversized couch made of
tire retreads. It was like Alice entering Wonderland. But
to fall through this rabbit hole, I only had to journey down
Grand Street, almost to the water, to Cave.
The gallery has flourished for 6 years in this corner of
Williamsburg under the direction of Shige Moriya. He looked
through Manhattan for space, but couldn't find one that
fit his price range, so like most of the early pioneers
of Williamsburg, Moriya came because it was affordable.
He had previously worked in a Soho gallery, but wanted
to do his own thing: increase communication between creative
people. Communication is very important to Moriya, especially
since he is still learning the English language. "Speaking
English is hard for me, but art allows me to communicate.
It is a language everyone can understand."
Cave allows for varied alphabets in its large space. After
the first room, there is a hall area, in the back is an
exhibition room with a sitting area, and to the left and
right are two working artist studios that are open to the
public. There are pieces stacked against the walls, and
cans of paint, cups of brushes, and piles of rags in the
middle of the floor; as if the artist had just left for
lunch. Which they just might have. "When I went to
artist's studios, I realized I liked being there more than
perfect galleries. So those two rooms are open to the public
so they can see how they work, so they can see the process."
Moriya features artists from all over the world, as well
as from Brooklyn. He looks for work that shows the artist's
heart, shows that they put themselves into it; he wants
to feel their passion. And he wants viewers and other artists
to feel it too, which is part of the reason the gallery
has so much space. "More space means more interaction."
The future is a mixed bag at this point for Moriya. He
is glad the neighborhood is growing, that the number of
galleries in increasing, because it provides exposure to
the artists. But he recognizes that rents have risen and
some artists have had to leave already. Five years from
now, "most artists probably will have left because
of the rents. You can look at it like Soho: it was the center
of the art world, now fashion town. When more people come
in, others have to leave."
Let's hope Cave isn't one of those people.
Cave is located at 58 Grand Street and is open Friday to
Sunday from 1pm to 6pm. For more information, visit http://www.cavegallery.com,
or contact Moriya at smoriya@cavegallery.com or 718.388.6780.
Cave's next show is "Landscape", a sculptural
installation by Hisayasu Takashio. It opens June 29 with
a reception from 7-11pm and runs through July 28. Also showing:
Studio S: "Pray" - Installation by Mary Minieka;
Studio N: "Truth" - Paintings by Naoki Iwakawa;
Studio D: Paintings by Dai; Performance by Doro; Corridor:
Paintings by Daniel Pendino; Air: Sound Installation by
Kenta Nagai.
 
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