David Kesting & John Leo

BROOKLYN, N.Y.—Even in a market where subversive is the norm, David Kesting and John Leo, owners of the scrappy Capla Kesting Fine Art gallery, are known for pushing the envelope.

Appropriately operated out of a renovated garage in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, their gallery has consistently shown the edgiest of cutting-edge artwork since its inception in 2003.

Then, during the 2006 Armory show, the pair thumbed their noses at the traditional art fair setup by creating the guerrilla-style Fountain fair, where a handful of young, Brooklyn-based galleries showed avant-garde works outside the confines of booths. Fountain has since garnered its share of media attention with runs during Miami’s Art Basel and again in February in New York.

But nothing could match the spotlight that fell on the gallery itself last year, when it unveiled artist Daniel Edwards’ controversial Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston, a sculpture of Britney Spears giving birth. A few months later, Capla Kesting caused another stir by bringing us Edwards’ bronze rendering of Suri Cruise’s first “poop.”

Kesting and Leo chatted with ArtInfo about what they see as the merits of those works and about the failures of the traditional art fairs. And they revealed to us what it would take to get these loyal Brooklynites into Chelsea.

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ArtInfo: Edwards’ sculpture of Britney Spears is appearing at your booth at the Bridge Art Fair in Chicago later this month. What is it about Edwards’ work that keeps you coming back to him as an artist?

John Leo: It’s not about the art—it’s about Daniel Edwards. He’s been a major supporter of the gallery since its inception. People see him as a sensationalist, but the fact is that he’s a class-A sculptor.

Still, don’t pieces like that raise concerns about art becoming just a publicity stunt?

David Kesting: There’s no two ways about it: Daniel Edwards has an uncanny ability to render the human form in 3-D. We’re about quality, so if he happens to produce a piece that’s absolutely mind-blowing and visually stunning, and it happens to be a celebrity, and he’s using that celebrity to reach the media and the public, then so be it.

If the piece wasn’t terrific, if it had been sculpted poorly, no one would have paid it any mind. But it’s a quality work, and its one of the most fascinating sculptures of our time. The piece is going to reach auction five years from now and sell for a lot of money. In 100 years, will we remember Britney Spears? Maybe not, but the sculpture will still be appreciated for what it is.

People understood that it was tongue-in-cheek. At no point have we ever had to point out the satire to people; we’ve never had to stoop down to that level.

So do you put Suri’s Bronzed Baby Poop on the same level?

DK: It was all fun and games—“Ha ha, it’s a piece of poop”—but nobody’s laughing now, because we gave $10,000 to the Kristin Brooks Hope Center for postpartum depression.

Reese Butler founded the Brooks Center after his wife committed suicide. He’s committed to doing something about [postpartum depression], unlike people like Tom Cruise [who criticized actress Brooke Shields for using Paxil to treat her postpartum depression] .You want to talk about absurd? That’s absurd. The bottom line is that Daniel Edwards is doing really good things for a lot of people he doesn’t even know.

And the gallery is doing good things, too. Aside from donating to nonprofits, you’ve also said you’re promoting independence and unity among what you call the “Brooklyn arts collective.”

JL: We’re really working to unify the neighborhood and the galleries, where in other communities—like Chelsea—everyone fights over the space. That’s what keeps us here, the fact that we’re really close friends with all the galleries surrounding us.

DK: The galleries have to have a dialogue. When our galleries are speaking to each other, our artists are speaking to each other, and that is so valuable. There’s a movement going on right now—people don’t know exactly what it is yet, but if we can make that happen, it’s great. We want to see our friends, the people we love, succeed at any cost.