After 17 years in New York City—studying contemporary art at NYU before working at noteworthy art dealers, including Sotheby’s, Andrea Rosen Gallery, and Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Jill McLennon moved to Austin and set to work opening the new East Austin gallery McLennon Pen Co. “I realized I might be happier somewhere else outside of the city opening my own gallery, giving it my best shot and getting reinspired by artists of my generation,” McLennon says.
A quirky 1,800-square-foot two-story home for rent on East 12th Street caught her eye. Its owner happened to be an art collector, who supported McLennon’s vision to transform the spacious bottom floor into a gallery space.
A red door leads into the entryway of the 1940s bungalow, where visitors are greeted by Billy, the gallery’s Hawaiian shirt–wearing white Chihuahua cairn terrier. The exhibition space encompasses five rooms, including the former dining room and a two-car garage.
Named after a 1934 luxury pen shop in downtown Chicago owned by McLennon’s grandfather, the new gallery opened in March with an inaugural show titled Just Friends, featuring nine contemporary artists and friends of McLennon’s from her time in New York. She plans to host four to six shows a year, focusing on a variety of mediums that include painting, sculpture, video, and installation.
The gallery’s next show, opening this fall, has a historical context showcasing the work of Felix González-Torres, a Cuban-born American visual artist known for his experiential installations using everyday materials, and other members of Group Material, an NYC artist collective that operated between 1979 and 1996. Visits are by appointment via the gallery website.