James Fuentes

Fuentes, the former director of Deitch Projects, opened shop in 2007 on the ground floor of the small, two-story Chinatown building in which he lived, using the money he received from appearing on Jeffrey Deitch's short-lived reality TV show, Artstar (on the Gallery HD channel). Since then, Deitch has moved up to become director of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, art-world reality-show action has transferred to the Bravo network, and Fuentes has moved out of his apartment, expanding the gallery to the upper floor. Not surprisingly, given the Deitch connection, Fuentes's artists—among them Agathe Snow, Lizzi Bougatsos and Georg Gatsas—are all about bringing on the Pop Art pizzazz in a street-smart key.