Broken Frontier

Nucleus is a gallery/boutique in the Alhambra region of Southern California. Ben Zhu discusses with Neil Figuracion his vision for the store and the commerce of art and comics.

Broken Frontier: Graphic Novels, toys and t-shirts: what makes Nucleus different from other stores?

Ben Zhu: Nucleus is a bit more art-centric than other stores. I feel we try to have a bigger variety of stuff, and our core idea going in was to expose people to good
art. The gallery is definitely one of the main differences between Nucleus and other stores.

BF: So, it’s not Asian-centric?

Zhu: Yeah, I try to stay away from... although a lot of stuff I think is cool tends to be Asian.

BF: What do you carry?

Zhu: We carry custom T’s from local artists. We carry a lot of ‘zines. We put out a whole table just for ‘zines, whereas some stores might make that secondary.

BF: How did the idea for the Nucleus Gallery come about?

Zhu: Actually that was the main idea. The store was secondary. I wanted to have a place where artists could come in hang out. Sort of like a hot bed for artists. I mean almost like in the old days where you could have a salon and you go there and see the latest works. Especially the general public. The original idea was to have a café where artists could come have a drink and talk about jobs, talk about the industry, look at each others work, and just sort of inspire each other.

BF: It was sort of a place to hang out that had an artistic bent. It’s a different flavor kind of gallery. For instance you could go to a place where it’s purely oil paintings...

Zhu: That’s why I say Nucleus is different: one day we could have sculptures, the next day we’ll have some fine art installation. Then we’ll have just drawings, a workshop of comic books. I want all of that, to be able reveal that to the general public.

It’s true that the guys out in Hollywood are doing their job, they’re getting the stuff out there, but in Alhambra you just don’t see that. It’s difficult, but I think we’re doing a really positive thing.

BF: So the notion of a gallery opening night might be surprising to the typical comics reader, what surprised you?

Zhu: I think what surprised me [was] how many people were [there], the positive reactions to it. I’ve had families come up to me and just shake my hand almost crying saying “thank you so much! We’ve needed this for so long.” A gallery, an outlet for artists.

BF: Your store is in Alhambra. What kind of a [city] is that?

Zhu: There’s very little art community. A lot of the kids, I won’t say they’re exactly punk rock, skater kids, they don’t have a lot exposure to this stuff. They know a lot of graffiti art.

BF: Well, you’ve had graffiti art installations.

Zhu: I have. I just wanted to show them that there’s more than just that out there, and a lot of that is influenced by graphic design, it’s influenced by comic books. That’s the thing, Art is so, it’s so hard to just stop at one point.

BF: Were there bad reactions?

Zhu: There were a lot of people going “what is this? This is weird stuff!” People weren’t open minded just yet.

BF: Are they changing?

Zhu: Slowly I think. That’s part of our job, is to educate them and to open them up. We’ll give them some stuff they’re more familiar with, Tim Burton stuff.

BF: What are you recommending to them as a second step?

Zhu: As a second step, maybe Edward Gorey, and as a third step, Bigfoot: In me own words... or “Oh you like graffiti! Well check out these German graphic design magazines that have 3-D graffiti, things done in Maya, and things playing with space! Graffiti as a space element. All these interesting things that you thought just stopped at one point. You could trace graffiti back to [Alphonse] Mucha.

BF: What kind of a customer base were you trying to attract?

Zhu: I think a large part of it is catered towards aspiring artists and professional artists.

BF: How would you describe your regulars?

Zhu: People who come to the shows every month. People from the comic book industry, from the video game industry, animation industry.

BF: What’s the reaction of the average walk-in customer?

Zhu: The reaction and I’ve looked closely at this... you get about three types of [people]. The first type will walk by; they’ll take a glance at the front window and say “what the hell is that?” The second type of customer will look curiously, but for some reason [they] won’t make it back to the gallery. They’re just like “Ooh! Shirts.” Because a lot of people aren’t sure.

BF: A lot of people don’t know what a [gallery] looks like.

Zhu: I don’t think they’ve seen a gallery of this scope, and I’m not just tooting my own horn here. Very few people dedicate two floors to a gallery.

So those curious people, eventually they’ll make it to the back. And then there’s a third type, where they know exactly what they want. “I want the store!”

BF: Is that what you’d want every to be?

Zhu: Of course! [laughter] I don’t want everyone’s reaction like that. I want to be able to educate some people.

BF: Do you find that you can make the second type of customer grow into your store?

Zhu: I think I have already.

BF: What does it take for them?

Zhu: It takes trust. To recommend something you think they’ll like at first. Just talk to them

BF: If, in the future, Nucleus were to have a profound effect on the world of comics and popular culture, what would you want that to be?

Zhu: I think it’s appreciation. Comics needs as much help as it can get. Comics is such an amazing medium. What I will do to help that... graphic narrative workshops, on publishing, on creating ‘zines. I fell in love with comics because of Spider-man. Because of the way Erik Larsen and Todd McFarlane drew Spider-man. Eventually you read more different stories. It’s not just art; it’s actually the art form.

BF: Is there anything else you want to say.

Zhu: The reason Nucleus would be successful would be because of the artists. The reason Nucleus started is because of the artists. It’s their drive that’s driving this. It feeds itself, is what I’ve learned throughout this whole project. You provide for them, they provide for you. If Nucleus becomes big it will only be because of the artists. The other thing i wanted to have is... I have great employees.

If you know of a comics store that deserves attention, please mention it on the boards, or email neilfiguracion@brokenfrontier.com.