FERNBERGER

Congrats on the news of your gallery opening in January 24…. What made you take the plunge and was there a specific reason(s) for choosing LA and specifically, Melrose Hill?

EF: Thank you so much! Last year I was spending a lot of time in LA. I had lived there a few years ago and always wanted to move back but the opportunity never presented itself. Have you ever been somewhere and just had it spiritually click with you? That's how I feel about LA: like spiritually, I'm from the West Coast. Not to sound too woo-woo. I'll always be a New Yorker, but my heart is in California. Anyway, a friend of mine, Alexander May, had just opened his space, SIZED, in Melrose Hill and he gave me a tour of his space and the neighborhood, and my friends Morán Morán were already there. Then I met Zach Lasry, who is redeveloping the whole neighborhood and he clued me into everything else opening in Melrose Hill, and I had one of those intuitive, urgent, gut feelings that I had to open up my own space there as soon as possible. It was just one of those unquestionable things.

Can you divulge about your first show in the new year?

EF: My first show will be a solo exhibition by Nicole Wittenberg, an incredible New York-based painter who happens to be one of my closest friends. It feels like the best and most organic way to inaugurate the gallery. Nicole is one of the most talented, thoughtful painters of her generation. She is fiercely invested in art history and sees herself and her work in dialogue with painters of the past--Bonnard, Degas, for example. But she also has such a specific line and color sensibility that inflects her work with a singular vision. I'm just as excited as anyone to see her show in January.

I am always into studio shots form artists…the messier the better… so can you share any pics of the soon to be Fernberger Gallery?

EF: The space was a laundromat, so they're doing demolition and just took out all the machines--I don't know how exciting these images are. But the architectural plans are stunning! Imagine skylights and old wooden trussed ceilings and no more of this swampy green color!

Before opening your gallery, you are doing a group show in a month in Rhode Island…how are you doing all of this???? And can you talk a bit about this show?

EF: I have a problem where I fall into a deep depression when I'm bored or under-stimulated, so I basically had to do this show in Rhode Island in order to keep myself engaged and happy while the LA space comes together. My parents live in Newport, RI, and I spent a lot of time here during the early pandemic, so I have a real soft spot for this place. I don't think people in New York realize it's basically as far as the Hamptons, and offers so much by way of a beach/summer community. The show pulls together works by artists that I'm either planning on showing in LA or that I have built relationships with over the years: Chris Aque, Elana Bowsher, Tom Burr, Ross Caliendo, Vicky Colombet, Phil Davis, Federico De Francesco, Martha Diamond, Jess Xiaoyi Han, Wyatt Kahn, Kayode Ojo, Juan Antonio Olivares, Olivia Reavey, Nicholas Sullivan, and Nicole Wittenberg. I think of it as a preview of the LA gallery in terms of communicating my sensibility but it's also just a fun opportunity to throw my hat in the ring and get started. The show opens in two weeks and I already know I want to do this again next year. I love Newport so much.

What are some spots in LA that motivate you? Could be food, art, etc.

EF: Can you elaborate on this? Do you mean restaurants and shops/galleries? I'll answer as best I can.

I'm always excited and energized by people who pursue their own particular vision and want to share that with other people. My friend, the painter Phil Davis (who is in my Newport group show, Oak House) is also a really accomplished landscape designer and specializes in using native California plants in his designs. He organized a brilliant show that lasted one day in Pasadena in the South Arroyo pass on a hiking trail. It was amazing. I love the opportunity to experience that sense of discovery. He also just opened a plant and seed shop, which, as a garden geek, I am very excited about.

My friend Nick Fisher, who owns El Prado, the art world's favorite wine bar in LA, is opening an organic ice cream shop very soon called Fluffy McCloud's --I'm very much looking forward to sampling his stuff. All homemade blends...

Tyler Stonebreaker's design firm Creative Space is also incredibly motivating and inspiring. He is responsible for the build out of my gallery and designing the building, and courtyard and working on the amazing restaurants that are going in opposite me: Telegrama and Etra. It's going to be stunning. I honestly could not be more excited. I am constantly pinching myself. His office is directly opposite my gallery, so I will be popping over a lot. He put in the most beautiful cactus garden. It's pretty special.

My friend Miggi Hood is an architect and hotelier (she consulted on my space) and she has the most incredible kitchen that may be one of my favorite rooms in the entire world (which is really saying something) which is nestled up in Nichols Canyon. It's a garage that she converted to a kitchen and lined in redwood or cedar or something, and it's the most expansive but cozy space. I can't even count how many amazing people I've met at her kitchen table, how many cups of tea I've had with her. She's helped me hatch so many ideas and flesh out other ones.

I guess it's more people than places that inspire and motivate me. My artists, my friends, especially Marissa Jartcky, who is opening her own furniture and design store hopefully around the corner from Fernberger in Melrose Hill, other gallery owners. Basically anyone who has taken the plunge to pursue their own interests wholeheartedly and bet on themselves. Sorry, this is like a personal essay of an answer haha.

Aside from the group show, how is your summer going? Are you able to relax a bit?

EF: Oak House has been a huge feature of my summer, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides that, though, I've been gearing up for the cross country move--did I mention I live in New York right now? It's been a lot of bouncing around between NYC and Newport. Earlier this summer, I went to Italy with my boyfriend--My Last Vacation For a Very Long Time-- and that was incredible, just so fun. I'm sure you can relate, but working on something I'm really passionate about that has my name and all my money tied up in it, I don't really want to have down time. I'm pretty much always thinking about the gallery. I dream about it. I'm a firm believer in working hard and playing hard, though, so I try to get to the beach in Newport when I can. I would like to go surfing more. I'm not very good, but I make up for it with enthusiasm. I find it very relaxing, no phone. No phone is the ultimate luxury.

Lastly, who should we have on next?

EF: Sally Breer, Tobias Jesso, Jr., Marissa Jartcky, Tyler Stonebreaker, Ross Caliendo, Phil Davis, Elana Bowsher, Adam Alessi... Just some ideas!