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An art gallery destroyed in the Palisades Fire finds its next chapter
The Bruce Lurie Gallery is reopening in Santa Monica after the Palisades Fire.
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Courtesy Bruce Lurie Gallery
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Bruce Lurie remembers watching television news and seeing the Palisades Fire jump from one building to his namesake gallery on Jan. 7.
The 900-square-foot art space on Via de la Paz specializes in mid-career artists working in pop art, street art, giant sculpture and other media.
Most of Lurie's collection except for three polished stainless-steel sculptures were destroyed in the Palisades Fire. But the area was also his home. Although his apartment survived the fire, it was rendered uninhabitable.
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An art gallery destroyed in the Palisades Fire finds its next chapter
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Like so many others, Lurie says he was reeling from the loss and destruction of the tight-knit community. He says all but three buildings were burned down in the vicinity of where the Bruce Lurie Gallery stood.
One of three sculptures that survived the Palisades Fire.
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Courtesy Bruce Lurie Gallery
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Few buildings in the vicinity of the gallery remained after the fire. But three sculptures did survive.
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Courtesy Bruce Lurie Gallery
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With some four decades of experience, Lurie has seen his shares of ups and downs in running a gallery space. He left New York after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In Los Angeles, the gallery was in Culver City before moving to the Palisades after the pandemic.
Picking up and moving to new digs never fazed Lurie. But with the fires, it was an entirely different experience.
Even though he knew he'd reopen — when and where was another question.
"It just so happened that a gentleman who owns a gallery space in downtown Santa Monica lives in the Palisades," Lurie said.
The next day Lurie went to check out the space.
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"I really wasn't prepared to act on it. I walked in and I was like, 'Wow, this is great space for a gallery,'" he said.
Lurie was still on the fence.
Gallerist Bruce Lurie, with dog Sugar, is reopening in Santa Monica.
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Courtesy Bruce Lurie Gallery
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"He really wanted me to get in there, and he made us a very nice offer just to get us in," Lurie said. " Sometimes you just gotta take the leap of faith."
The new gallery is double the size of the previous gallery.
"A s a gallery, I think our identity has never been just like a sterile white cube, but that's not really our style," says Lan Guan, director of the Bruce Lurie Gallery. "We've had fundraisers, comedy shows, even an engagement proposal."
Lurie hopes to recreate that kind of vibe in the new space in downtown Santa Monica — an area that is experiencing a kind of renaissance of its own with a spate of new developments.
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"I keep running into people who are from the Palisades who've moved into that area," Lurie said. "We would like to be the pillar of the community for bringing contemporary art to Santa Monica."
Starting with its grand reopening — and the inaugural group show, Renascene.
Details
- What: Grand reopening and inaugural exhibition
- Where: 608 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica
- Date: Saturday, March 29
- Time: 6 to 9 p.m
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