The Peter Blum Gallery in Chelsea showcases a variety of modern art in various media, including film, sculpture, and painting. Following the closing of its Soho Branch, it has been forced to expand its exhibitions so that the priceless art can remain on display to the public. An additional room upstairs houses rare pieces by such artists as Adrian Paci and Esther Kläs, and is available by appointment only.
The gallery's security system begins on the roof. CCTV records the exterior of the building from all angles, and cameras set up around the interior record all movement, all the time. There are two separate teams that guard the artwork - the first are those watching the cameras. The second are mixed in with the docents in plainclothes.
There are several ways to go about this without a partner, but all require impeding the cameras beforehand, which with planning can be made possible:
- Make an appointment with Lindsay Belby, who shows off the art in the upstairs room. Lindsay's clearance card opens and closes several doors; once swiped, you gain valuable seconds if you're running to lock the exits behind you. However, running's not my usual style, and hard to handle with a 50 pound frame.
- Get hired as a docent. Training and clearance are usually upwards of a month, but if you're patient, you're in. Work the angle. Be knowledgeable. Make friends with the plainclothes. Be seen with them. Be one of them. And then pose for one after 8:00pm when the museum goes on short-staff on Thursday evenings for the Late Night Art. The influx of tourists combined with fewer employees on hand means that when you say you're a plainclothes who forgot their clearance, the janitor believes you. Get in, mess with the cameras, get out.
- The Swiss Army defense: they were the ones who pulled the plug on the Soho address. There's all sorts of bad blood. Come in, be the big bad lease monster, and make like you're going to raise the lease sky-high over here, too, because rent-control is just a fairy tale. Cause a stir. Make them take you upstairs. And while they deliberate, grab Adrian Paci's sketchbook. It's on display in the shoddiest way ever: chained to the table with a chainlink (ha!) and a magnifying glass. That alone is worth $560,000.