Almine Rech Bets on Paris With Next French Art Gallery
PARIS — Opening a new art gallery in the midst of a world wide pandemic may feel like a bold go, but Almine Rech is confidently expanding her presence in Paris with a second location on Avenue Matignon.
Rech experienced her eye on the avenue, recognised for its large concentration of art galleries and auction properties, for a few decades before securing a space at variety 18, which opens on Thursday with a solo exhibition by U.S. artist Kenny Scharf.
“I’ve been thinking for a while that it would be very good to be close to our collectors, many of whom do the job in the west of Paris,” says Rech, noting that the spot is also in the vicinity of significant artwork institutions like the Palais de Tokyo, the Paris Museum of Present day Artwork and the FIAC artwork good.
“I needed a wonderful position that was a little bit like a white cube and which is just what I found, so I did not wait when I noticed it,” she adds.
At just around 1,000 square ft, the new gallery is a quarter of the size of her existing place in the Marais district of central Paris, with room for roughly 10 operates of artwork in between the floor ground and the lower floor ground. “A area of this size is quite manageable,” Rech states.
Crucially, it enables her to current not just solo exhibitions by up to date artists, but also team demonstrates showcasing a mix of performs from the 20th and 21st generations. Regardless of being pressured to near for a number of months previous spring, Rech — who also has galleries in New York, Brussels, London and Shanghai — reviews that business enterprise stays stable.
“The pandemic does not seem to have dampened demand for art in the slightest,” she states. “We’ve weathered this time period perfectly, generally due to the fact this catastrophe transpired nowadays and not 10 decades ago. If it experienced occurred a decade ago, it would have been awful for galleries, due to the fact collectors weren’t utilised to buying on line.”
Nevertheless buying performs from a electronic image or video clip has develop into frequent exercise, she has observed business enterprise largely from present customers, and they usually decide on operates by artists they by now know. Artwork developed by Millennials has been in strong demand, notes Rech.
“It’s very fascinating to see that collectors are very curious about, and interested in supporting, contemporary art. I imagine which is a very good indication of the vitality of artwork. I’m a small astonished, even, that people today are not leaning in the direction of safer choices in the course of such an unpredictable interval,” she feedback.
The portion of her business that has evaporated is the new clientele she customarily picks up at art fairs. “The quantity of fairs had gotten marginally out of hand, so it was tricky to regulate, but I hope the big fairs will be able to resume soon,” Rech states.
For the inaugural exhibition at the new Paris gallery, Scharf — new off a collaboration with Dior — will present new performs less than the title “Vaxi Country.” Rech notes that the artist, who emerged from the 1980s road art scene in New York together with Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, designed portion of his visible vocabulary in response to the AIDS crisis.
“He never feels sorry for himself in his paintings. He talks about serious problems with a good deal of optimism, and he always tries to discover the humor in any circumstance,” she suggests.
It could not sound more timely.
See also:
Dior Collaboration Caps Banner 12 months for Kenny Scharf
