Barsky Gallery Celebrates Grand Opening

What looks like a resurgent arts scene in Hoboken welcomed a prominent new member Sunday afternoon. The Barsky Gallery at 49 Harrison St. held a special grand opening reception that featured Mayor Dawn Zimmer helping to cut the ceremonial ribbon.

The gallery, which had its soft opening in November, is led by founder and curator Albert Barsky. Barsky was born in the Ukraine and came to the United States as a child over 30 years ago. He has lived in Hoboken for the past 15 years.

Barsky said his parents were art collectors who immersed him in different creative mediums. He later studied graphic design at the Fashion Institute of Technology and worked in advertising. He expanded his career by also becoming an agent for artists, which further connected him to that community and eventually led to him opening his own gallery.

“I wanted to offer something new,” Barsky said. He described the gallery as an “eclectic mix of local, national and international artists, something for everyone.”

Scores of guests visited the gallery during its four-hour opening reception, including Hoboken's Director for Cultural Affairs, Geri Fallo.

“I love this gallery and I love that it's here,” Fallo said. “It's wonderful for Hoboken and it's great for this neighborhood.”

Several of the featured artists also attended the reception to discuss their work. The over fifty pieces of the opening show lining the walls variously depict people, landscapes and urban scenes, plus other more abstract images.

Brooklyn based painter Kevin Connolly said he was invited to participate in the show. “It's an incredible opportunity to let our expressions be on view and to share what we have to offer,” Connolly said. Laura Gravenstine, a Hoboken artist who contributed some of her sculptures, said she thought the new gallery would help the local arts scene. “It's good to see galleries and artists supporting each other,” she said.

Ricardo Roig, another Hoboken based artist, credited Barsky with motivating him to try new things.

“This space elevates my art,” Roig said. “Al challenges me to be better. He told me not to pigeonhole myself.”

Roig, known for his cityscapes, contributed several silk screen prints inspired by the women in his life including his mother, two sisters and girlfriend. He already sold one piece during the beginning of the reception.

Sofia Bachvarova, who has a studio in the Neumann Leather building, contributed five paintings to the show, a series depicting women.

The Bulgarian born Bachvarova described her paintings as, “the idea of femininity in an innocent form while suggesting an inherent sense of danger.”

The pieces in the grand opening show range in price from $100 to over $18,000. The Barsky Gallery allows customers to rent pieces monthly for ten percent of the retail price. Barsky said this arrangement enables customers to see what the art looks like on their walls, and that the rental feature is popular with companies that want to continually refresh the decor in their offices.

Barsky said that he plans on staging both group and solo shows in the future. He also has big plans to promote the Hoboken arts scene as a whole. In what should highlight several recent gallery openings – Gallery 1200 and Lana Santorelli Gallery opened last year, and the hob'art cooperative now has a permanent home – Barsky is organizing a regular, bus-shuttled, city-wide arts tour to take place on the third Sunday of every month beginning April 15.

Fallo said the arts tour is a good idea found in other cities. “The only way for these galleries to survive is to nurture them. Having the tour gets people excited,” she said.