Frieze London brings new gallery surge
Fair coincides with a set of openings, including Victoria Miro's Mayfair space and Sotheby's private sales gallery
Last autumn, big New York galleries Michael Werner and David Zwirner opened in the Mayfair district of London, just in time for London's Frieze Art Fair, prompting many to suggest that regional dominance had given way to internationalised competition. Next Month, the fair - taking place 17-20 October, coincides with another set of openings, though the picture is more mixed.
In October 2012, London gallery Victoria Miro was seen to have lost out when one of its artists, Peter Doig, opened Michael Werner's Mayfair space. This year, Victoria Miro makes a return to West London, opening its new St George Street space on October 1 with a new Yayoi Kusama show.
Meanwhile, elsewhere on St George St, Sotheby's will open its own contemporary art gallery S|2, on October 10. This St George Street space, to the rear of the auction house's New Bond Street offices, is similar in function and spirit to Sotheby's S|2 gallery in New York. It will be dedicated to the sale of collections of contemporary art, beginning with Joseph Beuys Revealed, "an exhibition of 12 early works on paper and an important sculpture from a single owner collection."
Just to the west of these two new galleries, The Gagosian plans to open a thirteenth exhibition space, its third in London, at 20 Grosvenor Hill. Though there's no further word on exhibition plans, The New York Times reported that the space should be opening next month, after the gallery owner signed a 20-year lease on the 2,000-square-foot property back in May. Gagosian told the paper his property "has great space with over 15-foot-high ceilings."
The Financial Times also reports that highly respected New York gallery owner Marian Goodman has also bagged a Mayfair property, at 20 Golden Square, formerly the warehouse for the Savile Row tailors Holland & Sherry. However, we shouldn't expect any great expansionist plans from the revered New York gallery owner. "We're not out to conquer the universe like some of the men," she told the New York Times. "We're really doing this for our artists, because a lot of them don't show in London."
Good for her. To learn more about these new spaces, try this New York Times article, or This FT piece. For greater insight into how to conduct oneself as a buyer in this increasingly international market, do take a look at Collecting Art for Love, Money and More, our peerless insight into acquiring works of art.