Artists Sue NYC Gallery The Hole for Nonpayment
The suit filed by Daniel Um and Nastaran Shahbazi concerns nearly $50,000 in payments allegedly owed to the artists.
Two painters are suing The Hole Gallery in New York City and its owner, Kathy Grayson, alleging that the gallery owes them a combined sum of about $50,000 in outstanding sales proceeds.
Brooklyn-based artist Daniel Um and Paris-based painter Nastaran Shahbazi filed a lawsuit against Grayson and her gallery in a Manhattan court last Thursday, June 16, seeking allegedly withheld payments.
According to documents filed by Um and Shahbazi's attorney, The Hole is accused of "refus[ing]" to pay two artists for artworks the gallery took on consignment, in violation of state laws governing consignment agreements between artists and dealers.
Grayson declined to comment on the lawsuit. So did Jeff Kinkle, the attorney representing Um and Shahbazi.
The lawsuit alleges that between 2024 and 2026, The Hole paid Um only $20,207.50 of the $49,182.50 that it owed him under a consignment agreement. The gallery also allegedly only paid Shahbazi $62,234.50 of the $83,235.00 it owed under another consignment agreement.
Kinkle argued in the complaint that the gallery "repeatedly acknowledged the debt in writing" while simultaneously using its "available funds to satisfy other obligations."
The Hole, the lawsuit alleges, failed to set aside proceeds from the sales of Um and Shahbazi's works to pay them — as is required — and instead used the funds "to pay the gallery’s rent, operating expenses, [and] other creditors."
The lawsuit describes that The Hole allegedly paid Um monthly installments from a Citi bank account labeled "payroll," rather than a specific trust account, suggesting the gallery "commingled" the artist's proceeds with its operating funds.
The Hole maintains two locations in New York City, one on Bowery and another in Tribeca. Its Los Angeles location shuttered last September. In an Art Newspaper report published earlier this year about the closure, workers claimed the gallery delayed paying their wages. Unnamed artists in the article also complained about delayed payment for sold works.
According to court records, The Hole's Tribeca landlord filed a petition against the gallery in 2024 for defaulting on over $56,000 in rent payments at its 86 Walker Street location. A year later, in 2025, the building's landlord filed a subsequent complaint alleging that the outstanding amount had climbed to $124,110.17. It is unclear if or when those disputes were resolved. Grayson and the gallery did not immediately respond to Hyperallergic's request for comment on those previous legal filings.
