“Just Fucking Do What You Want”: Leo Fitzpatrick on His Inaugural Gallery Show

Once upon a time, before the rise of the Chelsea arts district and its white cube galleries, there existed a wild and unorthodox scene bubbling up on the cross streets of New York’s East Village. In the 1980s, spaces like FUN Gallery and Gracie Mansion provided an antidote to the big-money art market and served as a launching pad for the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and David Wojnarowicz. In recent years, a new crop of young art spaces has started to pop back up in the East Village, seemingly reviving that early, fabled spirit of the irreverent, unfussy, and less obsessed with sales totals. The most recent example is Public Access on St. Mark’s Place, which opened this past fall. Founded by the actor/artist/DJ Leo Fitzpatrick, along with his partner, the gallerist and bar owner Brendan McElroy, the small storefront is bent on a wild-hearted, community-minded program that’s a welcome throwback to the city’s scrappier days…