The Nomadic Second Gallery

There's perhaps no clearer indication of how strong the primary art market is at the moment than the number of galleries that are opening satellite or second spaces in other cities (or other countries). The list is long and (because not all continue to operate two shops for long) constantly changing, but when I talk to the gallerists branching out almost all explain they simply don't have enough months in the year to do all the solo exhibitions they want to do in their one space.

With a few exceptions, though, what I find really intriguing about this growth is how many of such galleries are about 10 years old or younger. In fact, most of the ones I can think of opening second spaces are about 5 years or so old. More established galleries (perhaps because they're too busy to handle the logistics of opening another space or perhaps because they're settled into a comfort zone they see no point of breaking out of) are tending not to add a second city to their letterhead as frequently as younger ones. Still, there is evidence (in addition to how many galleries now operate virtually year round) that many of them too are feeling there are just not enough months in the year to squeeze in all the solo exhibitions they want to host and hence are using the art fairs as a sort of nomadic second gallery. At least that's one possible explanation for the increase in the number of established galleries choosing solo installations for the major fairs. From Artnet.com:

This year’s Art Dealers Association of America Art Show, which opens Feb. 22-26, 2007, at the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue, features an unprecedented 15 solo shows from the 70 participating dealers. Three of the shows feature works by Asian artists: Yayoi Kusama at D’Amelio Terras, Ai Weiwei at Robert Miller Gallery and Suling Wang at Lehmann Maupin.

Other solo shows feature works by Janine Antoni -- including Lick and Lather -- at Luhring Augustine, Jennifer Bartlett’s signature paintings on steel plates at Locks Gallery, recent small bronzes by Louise Bourgeois at Cheim & Read, Anish Kapoor sculptures at Gladstone Gallery, new paintings by Malcolm Morley at Sperone Westwater, and a suite of black-and-white works on paper by Sigmar Polke at Michael Werner Gallery that have never been exhibited before.

Still more attractions include a survey of works by Lesley Dill at George Adams Gallery, work from 1991-92 by Jim Hodges at CRG, landscape paintings by David Klamen at Richard Gray Gallery, works by Giacomo Manzù at Tasende Gallery, "Ad Reinhardt: 1945 Works on Paper" at PaceWildenstein, and Pop paintings from the 1960s by Richard Smith at Richard L. Feigen & Co.

As I noted a while back, fairs are increasingly encouraging solo installations or curated booths, but they don't usually insist outside of project-oriented contexts. I also noted that I resented this encouragement, because I was tutored in a gallery that saw fairs as an opportunity to sell off inventory and their gallery as the place they curated exhibitions. Now, however, I'm beginning to see the wisdom of the nomadic second space. Full disclosure: for the second year in a row, we'll be featuring only one artist at the phenomenal Pulse New York art fair (last year it was Jennifer Dalton, this year will be Ivin Ballen [image above: Ivin Ballen, Fake Box with Pink Tape, 2005, Fiberglass, FGR95, and acrylic paint, 29" x 19" x 6"]...more on that soon).

Fairs are much shorter than normal exhibitions of course, but the traffic is generally much better. More than that though, solo installations do provide for the one thing I consistently criticize fairs for not providing for artwork: more controlled context. Granted the viewers are still under great pressure to keep moving and being bombarded from all sides with loads of distractions, but since the fairs are supposedly the new biennials and apparently here to stay (and because galleries are doing more fairs every year it seems), I'm encouraged by the increase in solo installations. It's one small step toward helping everyone slow down a bit, perhaps.