01 Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in downtown Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California, U.S., founded by art dealer and curator John Pochna. The gallery is known for its contributions to the lowbrow

Lowbrow

Lowbrow may refer to:*Lowbrow, relating to, or suitable for a person with little taste or intellectual interest* Lowbrow , describes an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California, area in the late 1970s...

 art movement, as it frequently exhibits pieces with heavy graffiti and street art influences. In April 2007, Pochna partnered with Brandon Coburn, and Jim Ulrich.

Founded in 1980 and christened Zero Zero by Pochna, the gallery was originally an after hours bar in Melrose

Melrose District, Los Angeles, California

Melrose District is a commercial and residential community in the Hollywood district of the City of Los Angeles, California.The term "Melrose District" may be used interchangeably by some with the "Fairfax District" which is a nearby area lacking strictly defined boundaries...

. The gallery's current name derives from a conceptual understanding of the creative process. As Kyle Lina explains, "Zero is when there's nothing--one when there's something. The space between the zero and the one is the creative act".

Over time, 01 Gallery developed a long standing relationship with the Los Angeles punk community, as it has debuted bands such as The Screamers

The Screamers

The Screamers were a punk rock group active in the Los Angeles, California area in the late 1970s. The Screamers were pioneers of a genre now known as "synthpunk," and can also be classified as art punk....

. As the gallery's clientele diversified, Pochna's aims for the gallery evolved. Pochna states, "[We're] not a punk rock gallery, not a graffiti art gallery, not a rebel gallery. Not any of those stupid names they used to call us."

01 Gallery has been frequented by Los Angeles residents such as Raymond Pettibon

Raymond Pettibon

Raymond Pettibon is an American artist who currently lives and works in Venice Beach, California.-Early life:...

, David Lee Roth

David Lee Roth

David Lee Roth is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and former radio personality. Roth was ranked nineteenth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Singers of All Time....

, Tomata du Plenty

Tomata du Plenty

David Xavier Harrigan, aka Tomata du Plenty the singer of the late 1970s Los Angeles synthpunk band The Screamers. He was also founder of Seattle's counterculture troupe Ze Whiz Kidz...

 and John Belushi

John Belushi

John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...

. This diverse clientele has led 01 Gallery to be thought of as analogous to Andy Warhol's Factory

The Factory

The Factory was Andy Warhol's original New York City studio from 1962 to 1968, although his later studios were known as The Factory as well. The Factory was located on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street, in Midtown Manhattan. The rent was "only about one hundred dollars a year"...

. "Its eccentric mix of artists and patrons made it [Los Angeles'] answer to the Factory, though the creations were more "lowbrow" than pop."

The gallery opened with works by Robert Williams

Robert Williams (artist)

Robert Williams is an American painter, cartoonist, and founder of Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine.Williams was part of the Zap Collective, along with other underground cartoonists such as Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton...

, Tomata du Plenty and Saber

Saber (artist)

Saber is an American graffiti artist, and painter working in Los Angeles. The Washington Post described him as one of "the best and most respected artists" in his field.- Los Angeles River :...

. It has also exhibited Anthony Ausgang, Raymond Pettibon, Walter Robinson, Richard Hambleton

Richard Hambleton

Richard Hambleton is an artist-painter currently living and working in the Lower East Side of New York City. Richard Hambleton has been called the godfather of street art. He is the surviving member of a group who, together with Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, had great success coming out...

, Futura 2000

Futura 2000

Futura 2000 is a graffiti artist. He started to paint illegally on New York's subway in the early seventies, working with other artists such as ALI. In the early eighties he showed with Patti Astor at the Fun Gallery, along with Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Richard Hambleton and Kenny Scharf...

 and Fred Tomaselli

Fred Tomaselli

Fred Tomaselli is an American artist. He is best known for his highly detailed paintings on wood panels, combining an array of unorthodox materials suspended in a thick layer of clear, epoxy resin...

.

Notable past curators include Walter Hopps

Walter Hopps

Walter Hopps was an American museum director and curator of contemporary art. His obituary in the Washington Post described him as a "sort of a gonzo museum director -- elusive, unpredictable, outlandish in his range, jagged in his vision, heedless of rules."Hopps was born in Eagle Rock, Los...

 and Carlo McCormick

Carlo McCormick

Carlo McCormick is a culture critic and curator living in New York City. He is the author of numerous books, monographs and catalogues on contemporary art and artists.-Pedagogic Activity:...

.

Trivia

Soon after the gallery's naissance, Pochna allowed the gallery's Melrose address to be used as a business address for an escort service in order to fund the gallery.

An exhibition at Zero One Gallery is documented in The Devil and Daniel Johnston

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

The Devil and Daniel Johnston is a 2006 documentary film about the noted American artist Daniel Johnston. It chronicles Johnston's life from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his experiences with bipolar disorder, and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession. The film was...

. Pochna is interviewed in the film.

The gallery's Melrose space was rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....

, Rock Hudson

Rock Hudson

Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...

, and Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...

.