Gallery on the Run

‘‘It’s a hot mess,” Yuri Arajs says, standing in the Northeast Minneapolis loft he just rented. Spacious, with plenty of daylight, the room has character and potential—but that’s about it. There’s no heat or a/c, no bathroom, no lighting. Several windows are just empty gaps in a wall. Leg-sized holes dot the floor, where ductwork has run up from a restaurant below, and a sea of chairs and kitchen supplies fills half the room. Wipe a finger across any surface; it comes up black with dust.

It’s September 3 and Arajs has exactly eleven days to turn this into a gallery capable of displaying thousands of dollars worth of art and safely hosting an opening night party. Most gallery owners would be suicidal, but Arajs owns Placement Gallery, a traveling exhibition that sets up shop in whatever vacant space happens to be available. This is normal. Why?

To Arajs, starting with a blank (often trashed) space and turning it into a showcase designed to highlight a specific collection requires creative spark and an artistic high you don’t get running a static gallery. He got a taste of it setting up traveling exhibits for his former gallery, Outsiders and Others. When that closed in 2007, he decided to become a nomadic entrepreneur.

This has its drawbacks—such as securing a location. Because Arajs is a short-term renter, landlords wait until they’ve exhausted all options before giving the key to him. That means a week and a half is usually the most time he has to put together any show.

Amazingly, it works. By September 14, Arajs has turned his pig into a pearl. Lighting is strung, holes are filled, dirt and trash cleared. Art is displayed on walls made from panels of plywood. A DJ spins for sixty or so art lovers, and by 9 p.m. he has already sold six pieces. Everything is perfect. Except the bathroom. “The construction workers,” Arajs notes, “were nice enough to loan me their Porta-john.”

The current Placement Gallery show opened November 18. Check for details.