International powerhouse Hauser & Wirth has opened a gallery in what was once a roller rink and massive nightclub – the Roxy – on West 18th Street. The gallery is Hauser & Wirth’s second location in Manhattan. It also has a space on the Upper West Side.

Katya Kazakina, from Bloomberg News, said the Chelsea opening’s important for the contemporary arts community, especially in downtown Manhattan post-Sandy. She wrote a column about the opening this week.

“Chelsea was also hit very hard by Sandy,” Kazakina said. “The gallery represents really a vote of confidence in the district.”

The kickoff exhibition documents the work of late artist Dieter Roth and his son, Bjorn, who collaborated on work for two decades.

“They’ve decided to fill the space with really big pieces to sort of reflect the size of Manhattan and also the size of the gallery,” Kazakina explained.

She joins WNYC’s Richard Hake to talk about the opening of the new space, including a live demonstration of artists casting chocolate molds, and a large-scale video installation.