FEATURE
Lin Tyrpien
ORGANIZATION
Lyle Gallery
Location
24 Rutgers Street, New York
Type
Interview
Contact
It’s hard to get excited about a new gallery in New York, and conventional wisdom suggests it’s not a smart choice either. How many of our favorite local galleries have shuttered their doors in recent years? Every now and then, though, a fresh face comes along to keep us optimistic.
Lyle Gallery opened its doors this summer: a small, white-box gallery on the outskirts of Chinatown. Since then, the gallery has hosted two exhibitions—a collectible design group show featuring innovative metalwork by female designers, and a photography exhibition exploring the world of women divers from Jeju Island. Following a transformative experience showing at Collectible, the gallery’s future offerings will focus primarily on collectible design, though it would be a mistake to pigeonhole them.
We spoke with Lin Tyrpien, co-founder of Lyle Gallery alongside her wife, Magdalena, about the realities of running a brand-new gallery in today’s art scene. Her eclectic background brings a fresh perspective to the market: a focus on galleries as more than just display spaces, viewing them instead as community-first event venues with a presence in both the digital and physical worlds. Not to mention, she has a genuine mission to give voice to female artists and their stories. Lin is a friend of ours and the design scene as a whole, but we say this without bias—the new guard is here, and we’re excited to watch them grow. Read our conversation with Lin below for insights into the ups, downs, and stories behind creating a gallery.
Can you walk us through the genesis of Lyle gallery? What is it like working with your wife to bring this vision to life?
The idea for Lyle Gallery began about a year before we officially opened. After spending a few years in the startup tech world, I felt a pull to get back into the art world. At first, I thought about going back to Christie’s as a lead exhibition designer, but then I convinced my friend Isabel Sullivan, who was running a gallery in SoHo, to hire me. I figured it was a great chance to try out a new side of the art world. While working there, I started thinking more seriously about the idea of having my own gallery and showcasing work that truly excited me.
My wife, Magdalena, and I sat down in our small one-bedroom apartment and came up with the business plan. We initially thought we’d do pop-up exhibitions to keep things flexible, but as we dug deeper into the idea, it became clear that we wanted something more permanent. We took a scrappy approach—scouting locations on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and walking around neighborhoods looking for “for rent by owner” signs. We eventually found our current space on Craigslist, which felt so fitting. As for the name “Lyle,” it came up during a casual brainstorming session at a wine bar, and we just ran with it. The next day, I put the branding into motion with the help of my friend Sophy Lee from IDEO. We officially opened Lyle Gallery in May during NY Design Week with a show featuring an incredible group of female artists working in metal.
Prior to opening Lyle, you had a background working in a few different ends of art and design. Could you elaborate on that journey and how it ultimately led you to open Lyle?
Before opening Lyle Gallery, my career spanned a range of creative roles, which is why I often describe it as a “slash” career—designer/photographer/creative director/production designer. I moved between these roles, gaining experience in both small startups and major companies like Ralph Lauren, Christie’s, and IDEO. It was a non-traditional path, with stops like managing a guesthouse in Bali and living in an architecture-focused community in Arizona, where I even learned welding. Despite the variety, each experience was about learning, creating, and figuring out where I fit in the creative world. It wasn’t until I started working in a gallery that I realized this was something I could see myself doing. I began attending every event and opening I could, and a major turning point was seeing Kim Mupangilaï’s show at Superhouse. Both her work and the unique space inspired me, and after that night, it felt like a major unlock after years of searching for what I truly wanted to do.
From that background, which skills do you find most valuable in managing the day-to-day operations of Lyle Gallery? Which aspects help position Lyle with a unique perspective in today’s art and design scene?
A big part of what makes running Lyle Gallery work for me is that I’ve learned to treat everything like a prototype, thanks to my time at IDEO. This mindset takes the pressure off having everything be perfect from the start. It allows me to experiment, put things out into the world, and tweak them as I go, which makes the whole process more fluid and less stressful.
Because I’ve worked in so many different roles—photographer, designer, creative director—I’m able to handle a lot of things in-house, like photography, press outreach, exhibition design, and marketing. That’s been really helpful in these early stages, where we’re bootstrapping and need to be as self-sufficient as possible.
My startup background also taught me to wear many hats and be scrappy. I’m used to figuring things out as I go and making the most of limited resources. I’m especially leaning into my experience in e-commerce as we build out Lyle’s online platform, which will be a big part of how we grow.
What sets Lyle apart is the mix of digital and physical experience. It’s not just about having a cool gallery space; it’s about blending that with a strong online presence to connect with more people in different ways. That balance is key to standing out in today’s art and design world.
Could you paint a picture of what it’s like running a new gallery in New York City? What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced and were there any aspects of running a gallery that surprised you?
Running Lyle Gallery has meant diving deep into networking, which has been a huge part of getting the gallery off the ground. A lot of my time is spent meeting new people—whether it’s artists, designers, clients, or even other small business owners who are on a similar journey. It’s been a constant flow of connecting with people, building relationships, and finding new collaborations. The biggest challenge right now is time management. I’ve got a ton of ideas and projects I want to do, but it’s tricky balancing all that with the limited time and resources we have.
One thing that really surprised me, though, is the amount of support I’ve gotten from the design community. As someone who came into this feeling like a bit of an outsider, I’ve been blown away by how welcoming and generous people have been. I’ve met so many insanely talented designers and artists who have been excited to connect, and that’s been an unexpected and rewarding part of this whole experience.
What resources—whether people, institutions, or events—have been the most helpful to you as a new gallery owner?
Being part of Hello Human’s PR Launchpad has been incredibly valuable for us. Before our gallery even launched, I downloaded their PR resources, and they were instrumental in helping us secure some fantastic press coverage for our first show. Another major milestone was participating in the New York edition of Collectible fair this fall. That experience was huge—it not only helped put us on the map, but it also connected us with other small galleries and design collectives. It’s been an amazing opportunity to grow our network, learn from others in the industry, and establish ourselves within the broader design community.
Since its inception, how has the vision for Lyle Gallery evolved? What prompted these changes, and what do you feel has remained consistent at its core?
Lyle Gallery is still in its early stages, but I have some big plans for how it will evolve. While we’ve started as a brick-and-mortar gallery, we’re going to lean heavily into the online space to reach more people, especially younger collectors and those who might not see themselves as collectors yet but could be. I’m really excited about figuring out how to create an online presence that feels just as special and personal as a physical gallery, and how both spaces can complement each other. The physical gallery will be more of an experimental space where we can take risks and host unique exhibitions and events, while the online platform will focus on making sales to help sustain the gallery. But beyond just selling work, I’m really interested in using my background as a creative director to help designers build their personal brands and market themselves. I want our online platform to be more than just a marketplace—I want it to be a place where we can act almost as an agent, providing support and resources for the designers we work with.
Could you walk us through your curatorial philosophy, both visually and in storytelling? What drives your decisions when selecting the artists and works you represent, and how does this align with the larger goals of Lyle Gallery?
I am very interested in working with multidisciplinary artists—those who bring expertise from different creative fields into their work. For example, we’re currently working with Karina Sharif, whose background in fashion design and styling really comes through in her art. It adds a unique layer to her pieces, and I’m fascinated by how artists like her translate their skills from one discipline into another.
I’m also drawn to artists who understand the power of social media and are actively engaged with it. There’s so much potential for expanding the reach of their work through creative storytelling and audience engagement on these platforms. For me, it’s not just about the art itself, but about who the artist is and what they represent. People connect with personal stories, and I think that’s key in getting someone to purchase a piece of work—they’re buying into the person behind it as much as the piece itself.
Multidisciplinary collaboration is going to be a big part of Lyle Gallery’s direction. I’m really excited about the possibilities when artists from different creative backgrounds—whether they’re digital, physical, or somewhere in between—come together to create something new. That’s the kind of experimental work I want our physical space to focus on. It’s all about pushing boundaries and seeing what happens when diverse creative minds collaborate.
At the heart of every small business are big dreams—what are your short-term and long-term goals for Lyle Gallery? Where do you see Lyle ending up within New York’s art and design scene?
One of my big goals for Lyle Gallery is to bridge the gap between different areas of the arts—fashion, design, music, creative coding, fine art—by focusing on what happens when these disciplines intersect. It’s not just about what an individual can create, but about the collaborative power of combining different creative practices. I want to emphasize this in our physical space, creating exhibitions where these worlds come together to form something truly unique.
On the online side, I want to make buying unique, artist-made objects fun, easy, and accessible. There’s this idea that if you’re already buying high-end furniture from places like Restoration Hardware, you can absolutely afford to invest in real art or objects made by real people. I want to help shift the mindset away from mass consumerism and towards finding special, one-of-a-kind pieces—whether it’s design objects, art, or fashion. Our online platform will focus on helping people discover these unique items and connect with the creators behind them.
