01 Gallery

01 Gallery, also known as Zero One Gallery, is a contemporary art gallery in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by art dealer and curator John Pochna and became known for presenting artists connected with lowbrow art, graffiti, street art, punk music, and other independent cultural movements. Rather than operating as a conventional commercial gallery with a narrowly defined program, 01 Gallery developed as a meeting point for artists, musicians, curators, and patrons from several overlapping Los Angeles subcultures. The gallery's roots extend to the Zero Zero Club, an after-hours Hollywood venue established in August 1980 by Pochna and artist-musician Mark Cameron Boyd, also known as Wayzata Camerone. The club used its Cahuenga Boulevard premises to show work by local artists and musicians. After the partnership ended in 1981, Boyd opened a separate Zero Zero Gallery in West Hollywood, while Pochna moved his 01 Gallery to Melrose. The name 01 Gallery was associated with a conceptual progression from zero, representing nothing, to one, representing something; the interval between the two was understood as the creative act. The gallery opened with work by Robert Williams, Tomata du Plenty, and Saber, and subsequently exhibited artists including Anthony Ausgang, Raymond Pettibon, Gomez Bueno, Walter Robinson, Richard Hambleton, Futura 2000, and Fred Tomaselli. Its program helped connect gallery audiences with visual languages drawn from graffiti, punk, underground illustration, and popular culture. The gallery also maintained a long relationship with Los Angeles punk communities and was associated with early appearances by bands such as The Screamers. 01 Gallery's reputation was shaped as much by its social environment as by its exhibitions. Its visitors and associates included artists and cultural figures such as Raymond Pettibon, David Lee Roth, Tomata du Plenty, and John Belushi. Because of this unusual mixture of creators and patrons, the gallery was sometimes compared with Andy Warhol's Factory, although the work shown at 01 Gallery was generally characterized as more lowbrow, underground, or subcultural than Warhol's pop-art milieu. The gallery has also been connected with prominent independent curators, including Walter Hopps and Carlo McCormick. Pochna has resisted simple descriptions of the venue as exclusively a punk, graffiti, or rebel gallery, emphasizing instead its broader and changing artistic identity. The gallery's history includes unconventional efforts to finance its activities, including the reported temporary use of its Melrose address as a business address for an escort service. An exhibition at Zero One Gallery was documented in the film The Devil and Daniel Johnston, which also included an interview with Pochna. The available reference material does not establish the gallery's current operating status, ownership, or official website.

01 Gallery's history is rooted in the independent art and music culture of Los Angeles. In August 1980, art dealer and curator John Pochna joined artist and musician Mark Cameron Boyd, also known as Wayzata Camerone, in establishing the Zero Zero Club. Boyd was associated with the Los Angeles punk-funk band The Brainiacs. The venue operated as an after-hours bar on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood and also functioned as an informal exhibition space, presenting work by local artists and musicians selected by Boyd or Pochna. The partnership between Boyd and Pochna ended in 1981. Boyd subsequently opened a Zero Zero Gallery in West Hollywood, while Pochna relocated his own gallery operation to Melrose and developed it under the 01 Gallery name. The name referred to a conceptual movement from zero, understood as the condition in which nothing has yet been made, to one, understood as the appearance of something. The creative process was associated with the space between those two conditions. From its earliest program, 01 Gallery occupied a position outside strict genre categories. Its opening exhibitions included Robert Williams, Tomata du Plenty, and Saber. Later presentations included artists such as Anthony Ausgang, Raymond Pettibon, Gomez Bueno, Walter Robinson, Richard Hambleton, Futura 2000, and Fred Tomaselli. The gallery became particularly associated with lowbrow art and work carrying strong graffiti or street-art influences, but its program also extended into contemporary painting, conceptual practices, popular-culture imagery, and work connected to music and underground publishing. The gallery maintained a long-standing relationship with Los Angeles punk culture. It was associated with the debut of bands including The Screamers and attracted a mixed community of visual artists, musicians, collectors, performers, and cultural figures. Its reported visitors included Raymond Pettibon, David Lee Roth, Tomata du Plenty, and John Belushi. This eclectic social and artistic environment led observers to compare 01 Gallery with Andy Warhol's Factory. The comparison concerned the gallery's role as a gathering place for creative communities; the work at 01 Gallery was generally described as more lowbrow and subcultural than the pop-art production associated with Warhol. Pochna later rejected attempts to define the gallery simply as a punk gallery, graffiti gallery, or rebel gallery. That position reflects the gallery's broad and shifting program, which used subcultural networks as a point of departure without being limited to one movement. Curators connected with the gallery included Walter Hopps and Carlo McCormick, both of whom brought wider contemporary-art and alternative-art perspectives to its activities. The gallery's operating history also included unusual financial and logistical arrangements. One account states that, soon after its establishment, Pochna permitted the Melrose address to be used as the business address of an escort service to help fund the gallery. This is a historical anecdote rather than evidence of the gallery's core artistic business. The gallery's cultural visibility was further extended through cinema: an exhibition at Zero One Gallery appeared in The Devil and Daniel Johnston, and Pochna was interviewed for the film. The available reference material documents the gallery's origins, artists, curators, and cultural associations but does not establish its current ownership, management, website, exhibition schedule, or operating status. Accordingly, its present-day status should be treated as unconfirmed.

• 2007

  New partnership formed

  [1]01 Galleryen.wikipedia.org

  In April 2007, Pochna partnered with Brandon Coburn and Jim Ulrich.

• 1981

  Pochna and Boyd separate their gallery activities

  [1]01 Galleryen.wikipedia.org

  After the partnership ended, Boyd opened a Zero Zero Gallery in West Hollywood while Pochna moved his 01 Gallery to Melrose.

• 1980

  Zero Zero Club founded in Hollywood

  [1]01 Galleryen.wikipedia.org

  John Pochna and Mark Cameron Boyd established the Zero Zero Club, an after-hours venue that exhibited work by local artists and musicians and provided the immediate context for Pochna's later gallery activities.

An independent Los Angeles art-gallery platform positioned between contemporary art, lowbrow culture, graffiti, street art, punk, and other experimental or outsider-oriented creative communities.

• Gallery programming · 1980

  Contemporary art exhibitions

  01 Gallery's principal offering is curated exhibition programming rather than a standardized product line. Its documented shows have included contemporary artists working across painting, drawing, mixed media, conceptual art, and other forms. The program has been particularly notable for bringing gallery visibility to artists connected with Los Angeles underground and lowbrow scenes.

• Contemporary art · 1980

  Lowbrow, graffiti, and street-art-influenced works

  A major part of 01 Gallery's identity comes from exhibitions associated with lowbrow art and imagery influenced by graffiti, street art, punk graphics, and popular culture. Artists documented in connection with the gallery include Robert Williams, Anthony Ausgang, Saber, Raymond Pettibon, and Futura 2000.

• Arts and culture events · 1980

  Music and cross-disciplinary cultural programming

  The gallery has historically operated across the boundaries of visual art and music. Its relationship with Los Angeles punk communities included association with the debut of bands such as The Screamers, while its venues brought musicians, artists, performers, and collectors into the same social environment.

• 2007

  Partnership with Brandon Coburn and Jim UlrichOther

  Background

  The available account records a change in the gallery's partnership structure in April 2007.

  Action taken

  John Pochna partnered with Brandon Coburn and Jim Ulrich.

  Aftermath

  The reference material does not provide further details about the partnership's duration, ownership implications, or operational results.

  Source

• 1981

  Move the 01 Gallery operation to MelroseStrategy

  Background

  The original partnership behind the Zero Zero Club ended, separating Boyd's and Pochna's gallery activities.

  Action taken

  Pochna moved his 01 Gallery to Melrose, while Boyd established a separate Zero Zero Gallery in West Hollywood.

  Aftermath

  The move established the Melrose location as an important setting in the gallery's subsequent history and identity.

  Source

• 2007

  Pochna partners with Brandon Coburn and Jim Ulrich[1]01 Galleryen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  In April 2007, John Pochna entered into a partnership with Brandon Coburn and Jim Ulrich.

• 1980

  01 Gallery established through the Los Angeles Zero Zero Club scene[1]01 Galleryen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  John Pochna and Mark Cameron Boyd co-founded the Zero Zero Club, an after-hours Hollywood venue that displayed work by local artists and musicians and formed part of the gallery's early history.

• Zero One Gallery featured in The Devil and Daniel Johnston[1]01 Galleryen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  An exhibition at Zero One Gallery was documented in the film The Devil and Daniel Johnston, which also included an interview with John Pochna.

1. 101 Galleryen.wikipedia.org