Framed by hedges, a white two-story 1930s house sits on a big corner lot in Hollywood. Amitesh Shrivastava’s earthy, gestural paintings peek through the ground floor windows, and inside, curved doorways are punctuated by columns, and filled-in fireplaces are freshly painted white. The home is the new iteration of Sea View. The warm, low lighting invites a closer look at the Mumbai-based artist’s work, which whirl with movement and occasionally haunting, loose figures. On the second floor, a group show features work by 12 artists, including Antonia Pinter’s organic and wispy candelabras, Zenobia Lee’s wooden domino sculpture, and Magnus Maxine’s textural paintings made from layers of newspaper. While the other half of the 5,000 square-foot house makes up an artist apartment and studio where visiting artists can stay, make work, and tap into the local scene.

“Galleries often forget that we’re in the business of service, not only serving our clients but our artists too,” says founder and director Sara Lee Hantman. Her new location shares a spirit with the art spaces staged in townhouses and older repurposed properties in London and Paris, as well as Los Angeles’ own history of apartment galleries. “It allows for a certain kind of closeness and intimacy,” she says. “And LA has so many incredible mid-century, Art Deco buildings.”

Hantman’s move to Hollywood comes after two-and-a-half years tucked away in the hills of Mount Washington at the one-story wooden concept space designed by Jorge Pardo in 1993 as a Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles commission. As her program grew, she decided that moving west would be better both for her artists and her business. She wanted a larger, more accessible location, one with regular hours, closer to other galleries, museums, and clients.

With a clear vision, she set out to find the right place. Halfway into her search, the Eaton and Palisades fires displaced tens of thousands of Angelenos, including Hantman and her partner who lost the roof and almost all the contents of their house in Altadena. The importance of a physical space that could foster community support became an impetus, and Hantman set her ideas in motion. “I responded by throwing myself into work,” she recalls. “It was actually the most healing experience for me—that I could rely on my community, friends, and artists.” Then in August, she found 1300 North Orange Drive. Now, after a monthlong marathon of renovation, it is open to the public.

Hantman is a good listener, often taking the time to choose her words thoughtfully before speaking. Originally from the East Coast, she went to art school but quickly realized that her efforts were best used in service of others. A couple years after graduating from college, she left New York City in 2014 to open Venus Over Manhattan’s satellite space in downtown LA, accepting the job without ever having stepped foot in the city. “I immediately felt the difference of warmth and openness of the LA community compared to New York,” she recalls. A new wave of young galleries were cropping up, and the Broad, Sprüth Magers, and Hauser & Wirth all opened in 2015 alone. Two years in, she became the director at Various Small Fires, developing their roster of artists, such as Jessie Homer French and Josh Kline.‍

In 2022, after regularly traveling between New York, Asia, and Los Angeles for art fairs non-stop since her move, Hantman felt burnt out; she left her job to work as an art advisor and start her own design company, Prisma. A year later, Sea View was born. Its inception was somewhat spontaneous, emerging from a collaborative exhibition with her longtime friend, art advisor Brandy Carstens. When she found the Pardo-designed space, Hantman was given 24 hours to decide if she wanted to sign the lease. “All signs pointed to yes,” she says.

From the start, it was clear that Sea View would “be a kind of antithesis to the bright, white environment,” a place where people are invited to take a seat, have a glass of wine, and hang out for a while. “It spiraled into a full-blown gallery that I was never planning to have,” she recalls, “but sometimes you need to take space from something to know that you really want it.” Soon she was putting on seven to eight shows a year and participating in art fairs. Today, Sea View’s roster includes a diverse range of artists, from emerging to late-career (many who have never shown in LA), such as the 68-year-old Japanese artist Yu Kobayashi and 34-year-old São Paulo-based Lucas Fernando Rubly.

When the Hollywood space opened earlier this month, the courtyard was packed with a sea of new and familiar faces shuffling in and out of the gallery with drinks in hand. As always, Hantman, statuesque yet approachable, wove through the rooms to greet everyone along her path and stop to chat about the work and space. “We’re entering a really exciting and powerful moment in the art world,” she says. “And I want to lean into the unique identity of this moment and create a space that speaks to the identity of LA.”