Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/464494
130 CULTURED Rachel Uffner has helmed her eponymous gallery since 2008, bringing her discerning eye to an ever-growing roster of artists. She steered through some challenging years after the global financial crisis, but has proved herself to be resilient. Her business has since outgrown its original Orchard Street space on New York's Lower East Side, and in 2013, moved into its new 3,000-square- foot ho me on Suffolk Street. Uffner cut her teeth at the now-defunct Chelsea space D'Amelio Terras, working her way from receptionist to director. She developed an ability to spot new talent and connect with artists in various stages of their careers and now represents an impressive stable of mostly female artists, including Joanne Greenbaum, Pam Lins and Bianca Beck, who will be showcasing works alongside her real-life partner in the downstairs portion of the gallery starting March 1. MY ONLY SOCIAL LIFE RIGHT NOW outside of the gallery and my 2-year-old son is the Debra Winger Club, which is a ridiculous thing with myself and a few colleagues and friends. We eat chicken wings at various venues throughout the city. It recently inspired me to have a chicken-wing-themed holiday and birthday party at Seoul Chicken, this great place on Clinton Street by the gallery. Everyone seemed to have a good time—and many regrets the next day. I'D LIKE TO LIVE WITH a Matisse like The Red Studio. There is something comforting to me about this work, though I find it very modern. I like its illustration qualities; it's like curling up with a good book. It's beautiful but doesn't feel tough or didactic. It depicts an artist's studio, which is a place where I spend a good amount of time—but not enough because I'm always at the gallery. It's a good reminder that the studio is where you really learn about an artist's work and develop the relationships that are really the core of what I like to do. OUR MARCH/APRIL SHOWS WILL FEATURE Bianca Beck and Josh Brand in our downstairs gallery, and a separate body of solo work by Beck upstairs. The two are longtime romantic partners and colleagues and it will be their first time showing exclusively together. I am excited to see what happens downstairs versus upstairs. PORTRAIT BY JASON FRANK ROTHENBERG; SEOUL CHICKEN BY JUSTINE DUNGO; KEVIN KEIM, COURTESY THE MENIL COLLECTION, HOUSTON An untitled work by Bianca Beck, 2015 I'M FROM PHILADELPHIA AND BOTH OF MY grandmothers were painters. One especially, Elayne Wolf (Mom-Mom to me), went to art school, designed windows for department stores and then spent the rest of her life painting. We used to go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art quite often; she hated the Twombly room, but we always looked at it anyway. THE MENIL COLLECTION in Houston is incredible for the way it fuses art and architecture. RACHEL UFFNER Cy Twombly's Victory