Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gabriel Shaffer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gabriel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

One of the most significant risks ive ever taken, happened on Halloween night nine years ago when I decided to move to New Orleans. I had a solo exhibition with the notorious Red Truck Gallery, which was to put it kindly in disarray. The owner convinced me to come work for Red Truck, which although at that moment posed a big challenge it also seemed like an opportunity and I adore New Orleans. I had been living and working as a full time artist in Asheville,NC for the better part of a decade at that time and felt stagnant. Red Truck had been around for about 5-6 years at that point and was connected to a number of artists and venues I admired in the Low brow and Pop Surrealist genres. I saw a chance for growth. So when one of my best friends, musician Meschiya Lake, offered me a room free of board until I got my self set up, I took the leap. For the first few months, I was broke and sleeping on a couch and the years that followed were pretty legendary. It’s almost a decade later. I now live in the French Quarter, have my own gallery Mortal Machine, I have curated well over 100 shows including a museum exhibition and worked with hundreds of artists I admire and respect. So yeah. Glad I took that risk,

Gabriel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Im Gabriel Shaffer. I an an artist who lives and works in the French Quarter of New Orleans and am part owner and curator of Mortal Machine Gallery. Im also the son of renowned folk/visionary artist Cher Shaffer and learned from a number of artists in this genre as a kid as I spent a lot of my childhood in an art studio and art shows. My art career started after a sell out premier at the 2005 Outsider Art Fair, in NYC, I have exhibited and sold my works to collectors, rock stars, celebrities, politicians, best selling authors, galleries and museums throughout various major cities nationally and internationally. My art appeared in magazines, newspapers and blogs such as Raw Vision, Art Papers, The Guardian, Art News, Boing Boing, Traditional Home, Architectural Digest, The Huffington Post , Hi Fructose and Juxtapoz. I was also a contributing writer for Juxtapoz magazine. I have had extensive experience with producing murals, installations and illustrations for various corporations, restaurants and museums including Facebook, BMW, Pandora Music, Sierra Nevada, PBR, Branded Arts, Mellow Mushroom, SECCA, The North Carolina Museum of Art and The Asheville Museum of Art.

In addition to painting, my primary focus for the past nine years has been curation and my current gallery Mortal Machine is where I execute these ideas, with my gallery manager Elza Burkart. I would definitely describe my curatorial style as Maximalist. We produce dynamic exhibitions of the worlds best in Contemporary Folk and Outsider, Low Brow, New Contemporary, Pop Surrealism, Erotica, Dark Art and Street Art in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans and at art fairs and venues throughout the United States. We have a predominate focus on mid career and emerging artists who are innovative masters of their mediums. Our intention is to facilitate a vibrant dialogue between the local community, the artists we love and the millions of folks who visit New Orleans yearly from all across the globe.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There is a fine line between determination and delusion and I would say I have been walking that tight rope for a long time. If there is one quality I know is a strength of mine, it is my drive. When I am committed to something I stay engaged, no matter how rocky the waters might be. There are a few examples that come to mind. Anyone that knows about the disastrous end of Red Truck Gallery, has some sense of my drive. Simply because the fact that I was able to take what remained of that train wreck and build Mortal Machine from the ashes has to count for something. But the example I would use specifically would be surviving 2020. January of 2020 Mortal Machine had just signed a lease for a space on Royal street and were off and running. Three months later the world shut down. While the French Quarter was boarded up, we were still on the hook for an expensive location. We leaned more into Ecommerce, but it still was not enough to keep the space feasible. By the month of June, I decided to rent an available apartment across the hall from me. We converted the apartment into a pop up, got a special permit from the city and operated by appointment only and limited engagements. During those engagements, we would have a door person take a waiting list, since COVID regulations limited our space to a maximum of 10 people. The shows were events since there was nothing going on. Folks would hang out up and down the block and when it was their turn, their names would be called and they would come see the show. During this time we focused heavily on improving our e-commerce strategies and by the time early 2021 came around the city re-opened. The kicker is, we were lucky enough to secure 940 Royal street. The exact same location where my former employer death spiraled Red Truck and attempted to end my career. I don’t know if this is healthy advice for everyone. But if you know what you are meant to do with your time here on Earth and you’re going to go for it. Go all the f*cking way and don’t let anything stop you. Especially in the moments where you are beat down, broken and cannot see a way forward. That’s when the desire you feel for your purpose counts the most and the breakthroughs happen.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Remove the focus away from the Blue Chip galleries and the Asset class. My primary concern as a curator and artist is to create shows that are strong, successful and can connect with a broad audience. This doesnt mean I cater to them. This means I consider them. I would rather sell hundreds of works priced between $1000-5000 a year than a few works priced 100K plus to a very limited base. I have no desire to put the destiny of my program into the hands of the wealthy. If they want to buy work from me great, but we aren’t compromising our curation for the vanity of elitism. I despise the idea of the art world being exclusive to a small group of people. Art is such a powerful tool for stimulating growth, creativity, intelligence and empathy. I would like to see a world where the average person is as interested in art as they are in athletics and celebrity scandal. Where a person can purchase art for the same price as a cup of coffee. One of the first steps towards this is making art more accessible and available. A person who purchases a $30 dollar print is still a collector and should be treated with respect and encouraged.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mortalmachinenola.com
• Instagram: @mortalmachinegallery
• Facebook: Mortal Machine Gallery
• Youtube: Mortal Machine Gallery

Image Credits

Mortal Machine Illustrated image by Luke Pelletier and Kristen Liu Wong