SFAQ_issue_sixteen

Sol Lewitt, Untitled,1975. Metal construction, 10 x 10 x 3.75 inches.
Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery, New York / Paris.
shows because you couldn’t just fit anything in such a small space. When the lease was
up after five years, I decided that if I could find the right space where the artists had
room enough, I would continue, and so I did. I found a very beautiful space at the last
minute of the last hour, making it possible for me to continue.
I know you had show of Richard Tuttle’s work in Paris recently.
Yes.
Is one of the reasons to have a gallery elsewhere because you can show
artists you don’t represent in New York?
I don’t think it’s a driving force. I’ve only just started to show artists in Paris who I don’t
represent. Many of those artists don’t show in Europe, which is strange, and for the
most part they are artists that I had worked with when I did publishing, like Tuttle and
Sol LeWitt. It wasn’t as if I was running around trying to find new people.
I received an email announcement recently that you are going to open a
gallery in London?
Yes, in about a year.
In what part of the city?
It’s in Soho, Golden Square, which is a very nice area. We started by wanting to open a
small space. I tried to find one in Mayfair, but I couldn’t. A real estate agent showed me
the space we finally settled on, which is flexible and it promises to be beautiful when
it’s fixed up.
Why London?
Europe has changed quite a bit. London has become the financial capital of Europe,
mostly because its tax laws are more favorable to collectors than those of France, for
example. And because most of my artists were excited about the idea of showing in
London.
It sounds like your decisions regarding the gallery are driven by your
artists?
Definitely, they are.
I heard you spend a lot of time every day on the phone with your artists.
That’s true.
Your close relationship with your artists must be the joy of it for you.
It is the joy, but there are many serious collectors, museum curators, and directors with
whom it is also a joy to work.
The art world has changed enormously since you began. What do you
think about the proliferation of art fairs?
I don’t feel good about it. I don’t think any gallerist does feel good about it, but there’s
no avoiding participating in it, because it’s now an important part of the market. The
paradigm has changed. It has changed the habits of the way the public engages with art.
Although there are still many collectors who value galleries highly as places where they
have a chance to see work in depth, fewer people come to the galleries. Many prefer
to shop at fairs. They are often the same people who buy at auctions. That’s not always
true, it’s not a black and white situation, but business has taken over the art world.
How many fairs do you participate in?
Many. It’s just a reality of an art world that has opened up to so many other countries.
It’s a much bigger arena than it used to be. I don’t know how smaller galleries manage,
I really don’t.
I don’t think fairs can replace galleries. Would an artist want to be with
a dealer who didn’t have a gallery?
It’s a possibility; it depends on the artist. But the general practice is only galleries are
welcome at the fairs.
But without a gallery how can you develop an artist, build a career?
Maybe it will be a weeding out process.
I think you are right. I think it is very different to build a career without an exhibition
space where the artist has a much greater possibility to be seen.
There are now biennials all over the world as well.
Of varying quality. Some are important – Documenta is the gold standard – and Venice
of course is always of interest.
And now the auction houses are mounting shows.
That’s even worse; there’s no real commitment to the artist at all. Money is the driving
motivation. If an artist is very much sought after, his or her treatment is better, and if
not, artists beware.
Do you have many clients on the West Coast?
San Francisco is one of the great collecting cities of the world, and we have many important
collectors in Los Angeles as well.
Are you tempted to open a gallery in another part of the United States?
No. We have a lot of out-of-town clients who come to New York regularly.
Do you work closely with museums?
Yes, very much so.
It’s very difficult for museums to acquire art now because most are priced
out of the market.
We try to help museums financially to acquire works as much as we possibly can.
Are there any artists you regret not taking on?
I take a long time to decide to add an artist to the gallery because it is a very serious
commitment, maybe even more so for the artist. The worst thing is to invite someone
and then find it was a mistake. I don’t want to grab artists because they are hot. I have
always added artists to the gallery before they were well known, or while they were in
a more quiescent phase.
Most of your artists have been with you for a long time; there haven’t
been many defections.
Yes, that’s true.
Who is the most recent artist to join your gallery?
Adrián Villar Rojas. He represented Argentina in the Venice Biennale in 2011. I was really
intrigued. He created this amazing environment, a world seeming to be made of stalagmites
and stalactites, an otherworldly landscape. I thought it very original, thoughtful,
powerful, and brave. I found it really stunning in the true sense of the word. I was deeply
moved by it. All the things you look for in an artist.
Has he shown in your gallery yet?
No, he will sometime next season. He just finished a well-received exhibition at the
Serpentine Gallery in London.
Where does he live?
In Rosario, Argentina, the hometown of Lucio Fontana.
Installation view, Sculpture, May 5th - 28 May, 1983. Richard Artschwager, Claes Oldenburg, Sol LeWitt. Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery, New York / Paris.
You were in the recent documentary Gerhard Richter Painting.
It was a shock to me. I had an appointment, walked into the studio, and Gerhard led me
into another other room where the filmmaker was. She asked me to say something. I
was taken by surprise, but I did.
Do you collect art yourself?
I don’t know if I would call it collecting, but I am attracted to many forms of art besides
contemporary, which I am keen on. I like ancient sculpture from the Pre-Columbian
era, sculpture from the Middle Eastern civilizations of the Tigris and the Euphrates,
African art, American folk art, Japanese prints, and on and on.
Richard Tuttle, The Place in the Window, II, 2013. Wire, mesh wall sculpture, 17.75 x 21.25 x 5.75
inches. Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery, New York / Paris.
Joseph Beuys, Mirror Piece, from Mirrors of the Mind, 1975. Brown lacquered flask with iodine
crystal mirror-plated interior, 7.25 x 4.25 inches. Published by Multiples, Inc. and Castelli
Graphics, New York. Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery, New York / Paris