Leo Fitzpatrick Visits The ‘Angel And Z Podcast’
Leo Fitzpatrick’s Public Access gallery has been sticking it out during the pandemic, at a time that’s been super rough for museums and small-scale spaces. Since opening in 2020 the gallery had to ride the coronavirus wave—following all social distancing protocols—which really put a damper on events like Mark Gonzales’s ‘Custom Boards’ show. But Fitzpatrick so far hasn’t been fazed: He recognized that COVID provided a unique opportunity for artists, and now Public Access is thriving.
For many of us, the star of Larry Clark’s Kids is the prototypical ’90s skater. In a recent episode of the ‘Angel And Z Podcast’ Fitzpatrick talks about his early days skateboarding in downtown New York, how his life has revolved around art, and the struggles related to running a gallery during a pandemic and how his background as a skater has made him uniquely well-equipped to tackle the responsibilities of running this kind of space. On the topic of starting a gallery, Fitzpatrick makes it clear that it shouldn’t be considered a far-fetched goal for someone who has ambition, but may lack the means (or credit history) to get it off the ground:
“I took upon myself to show these kids that this was possible. I’m a fuck-up. I have no credit; I’m like so bad business-wise. If I can do it, you can do it.”
Angel and Z do an excellent job of asking all of the questions you would want to ask if you were in the room with Telly. Watch the hour-long conversation, above!
At The Berrics, we’ve been fortunate work with many artists, each with an inimitable voice, and they’ve all shared skateboarding in common. We’ve highlighted their work in our video profiles, we’ve invited them to create art on our walls, and we’ve held free events to celebrate their work. Check out some of the projects we’ve worked on with these artists, below:
