Postmasters Gallery, which beat the rush on the Tribeca Gallery District when it moved here in 2013, is leaving Tribeca. This was their fourth location since they opened 38 years ago (1984) in the East Village, and they have decided to become a nomadic gallery — Postmasters 5.0. They are in a protracted legal battle with the landlord, they said, at their location at 54 Franklin.

“It may be a blessing of sorts,” said founders Magdalena Sawon and Tamas Banovich. “In the current global climate, in this country, in this city, such a model seems to be unsustainable for progressive, challenging, experimental art. Money continues to be the dominant measure of success and value, and money privileges familiarity above all. Perhaps it will change again.”

They have a show up right now — Gracelee Lawrence “Heat Sync” — that will be open until July 23. They will also keep their digital art NFT platform online at www.postmastersBC.xyz (the BC is for block chain) and continue programming PostmastersROMA. They already have two pop-ups planned for this fall: a monumental show of BarabasiLAB on networks and data as new realism, and a large-scale multimedia project by Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw.

The space here is especially charming and especially Tribeca. Banovich always designs the galleries, and he kept a lot of the original details: a row of columns that run right through, much of the tin ceiling, a brick arch, wood floors. But the nomadic, pop-up approach will allow them to tailor the space to the art more precisely.

“We have thoroughly enjoyed our nine years in Tribeca – we love the area,” said Sawon. “We loved it in 2013 when we were the destination gallery and first re-settler from Chelsea and we enjoy it now when it became a gallery hub that we helped to create. We may even pop up here again with a show of the nomadic Postmasters 5.0 model.”

“We will see you on the other side.”