By Liam Otero
Gallerists and art dealers form a crucial part of the arts ecosystem. When looking at a city like New York, the stories of those individuals are just as crucial to that of the artists, curators, art writers, and so forth with whom they coexist. After all, these categories of figures, more often than not, intersect with one another. These interwoven narratives are precisely what led to the interdependent relationships forged between such groups, from the staging of monumental exhibitions to increasing an emerging artist’s public exposure on an institutional level. Names as varied as Sidney Janis, Holly Solomon, and Leo Castelli carry an equitable degree of importance as that of the artists contemporaneous with them like Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, or Laurie Anderson. As with every era, an old guard gradually disappears and a new generation emerges.
With Contemporary Art paving the way for the future of Art History, it is essential to spotlight one such individual who is actively shaping the very fabric of the New York art scene: Kourosh Mahboubian.
Kourosh Mahboubian at twenty-two (left), with New York School Abstract Expressionist Joe Stefanelli, at Cyrus Gallery in 1988, at the opening of Stefanelli’s solo show.
Mahboubian has been a gallerist and art dealer in New York for close to four decades, having opened his first gallery in 1988. The inclination to entrench himself in the fascinating world of collecting and dealing practically runs in his DNA, for Mahboubian is a third-generation art dealer through his patrilineal roots. Mahboubian’s first space, Cyrus Gallery, was located at 11 East 57th Street; by the late-1980s, that particular street already possessed its own storied history as the hub for major New York galleries before shifting southwards to Chelsea and Tribeca.
From the beginning of his career, Mahboubian has been a stalwart champion of contemporary artists, with one of the best examples demonstrative of this trait being his platforming of African-American artists like Howardena Pindell, Tyrone Mitchell, and Maren Hassinger at a time when black representation in commercial galleries was quite rare.
Mahboubian examining his own work in the Clark University photography studio, 2014 (Photo credit: Stephen DiRado)
Bearing these early career details in mind, Mahboubian has invariably been a gallerist who embraces the unceasing “newness” of Contemporary Art without falling into the trap of self-limiting himself to only a small circle of artist favorites. Even with the aforementioned gallerists and dealers cited at the beginning of this essay, some of them would narrow themselves too much within their roster of represented artists and exhibition programming. In this regard, it could be said that Mahboubian is thinking more like an artist rather than a traditional gallerist or dealer by always devising new ways of reinventing himself while staying true to his roots.
Mahboubian in the booth that propelled artist Samantha Joy Groff to bigger pastures, cocurated with fellow art dealer Gabrielle Aruta at the Spring Break Art Show, 2021
If one were to draw a parallel between Mahboubian and a predecessor gallerist, Betty Parsons would likely be the most viable comparison. Though Mahboubian has been introduced here as a gallerist and dealer, he is much more multi-hyphenate in his background in that he is also an accomplished curator, art advisor, and artist. Betty Parsons, too, shared in similar designators, but the key difference here being that her art practice was foregrounded in abstract painting and sculpture, whereas Mahboubian has a vested passion for underseas photography. Akin to Parsons, this proclivity for making equipped Mahboubian with a remarkable set of skills that non-artistic gallerists and dealers do not have: to see the world from the perspective of an artist. Such an ability renders an individual like Mahboubian with a greater sensitivity to the boundless energy and imagination that motivates artists’ processes and creative philosophies. In sum, he is someone who intrinsically “gets” artists.
Mahboubian and his wife, Sara (not pictured), host bimestrial Tuesday night salon dinners with art world friends and luminaries. (Photo credit: Stephen DiRado)
These distinguished characteristics amounted to his latest and current endeavors: Kapow Gallery (pronounced exactly like the cartoon sound effect). Located in the Two Bridges section of the Lower East Side, Kapow’s dynamic and unique programming truly lives up to the hip, punchiness of its name. The gallery prioritizes the elevation of new and emerging perspectives in art, but what is especially valuable about Kapow is that the gallery’s roster of shows never feels formulaic. Mahboubian incessantly leaves one with an insatiable visual appetite that eagerly anticipates what is in store for the next exhibition.
Even the quickest perusal of artists who have shown at the gallery since its founding in 2022 communicates much about the sharp eye Mahboubian has for quality within the expansive terrain of Contemporary Art, an arena that is exponentially and dizzyingly much larger in contrast to when he began his career. A few notable examples who have shown at Kapow include: expert metal welder Bruna d’Alessandro; feminist mixed media artist Camille Eskell; psychological figurative painter Ali Sutton; conceptualist Lydia Nobles; and Japanese interdisciplinary artist Natsuki Takauji, et al.
Immersed in Contemporary Art for many years, there is no slowing down for Mahboubian. He has a youthful edge to his demeanor that comes through in the endless energy and infectious enthusiasm he exudes, eager to share in that with all who are around him. Not only is he inclusive of the types of artists he exhibits, but also in the audiences he brings into the gallery. There is this general perception that contemporary galleries can feel cold and without personality. Not so with Kapow, for Mahboubian is ready to share his genuine love for the artists and artworks with visitors from every kind of background, to which he speaks with a confident authority that is open and inviting.
Mahboubian with Ana Garcés Kiley at KAPOW, after the opening of her solo show, Dark My Light, October 2024
Mahboubian is a multifaceted arts professional who marches to his own beat, for it is impossible to pigeonhole him into a single category. Comparison can only go so far when discussing him in relation to other gallerists and art dealers, for he is a truly inimitable pillar within the Contemporary Art community. There is a non-hierarchical outlook to his understanding of art, for he has an equal affinity for canonized figures, rising voices, and everyone in-between. One needs to keep abreast of the activities of Kourosh Mahboubian, for he is only churning out increasingly greater and greater exhibitions while cultivating a thriving future for the New York art scene.
Mahboubian with artists Tyrone Mitchell (middle), Dindga McCannon (right) and Khari Turner (back) at their carefully managed pandemic era opening of Forget What You Know, October 2020
