LONDON.- Lehmann Maupin announced the opening of its new space in London on Monday, October 5, located at 1 Cromwell Place. Alongside galleries located in New York, Hong Kong, and Seoul, this will be Lehmann Maupin’s first in London.

Lehmann Maupin London will function as a dynamic multi-purpose space, offering an alternative to the traditional gallery model. Conceived in response to the shifting needs of its artists and the broader arts community, Lehmann Maupin London will forego a fixed exhibition program and instead engage site-specific activations, installations, and performances. This innovative model will allow the gallery to develop focused presentations that highlight critical issues of the day, while also providing a platform for artists to think outside of the traditional presentation of a new body of work. In addition, the gallery will host a regular series of public programs to keep audiences engaged in the current practices and concerns of its artists.

The gallery has long maintained strong ties with London through its artists based in or around the city, including Billy Childish, Mandy El-Sayegh, Gilbert & George, Shirazeh Houshiary, Do Ho Suh, and Juergen Teller. By expanding to London, one of the largest art markets worldwide, Lehmann Maupin aims to strengthen its connections in the United Kingdom and Europe and provide a bridge for its artists’ activity internationally.

Lehmann Maupin London will be based in the new Cromwell Place development in South Kensington’s museum district, close to the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Serpentine Galleries. Cromwell Place is a new arts hub comprising five Grade II-listed Victorian houses where Lehmann Maupin’s space occupies three converted period rooms on the first floor, totaling 730 square feet.




“The world is changing rapidly, and we are listening to it,” explains co-founder Rachel Lehmann. “We are taking an artist-centric approach with London. I like to think of the space as an extension of our artists’ studios, a space for contemplation, innovation and experimentation. Our goal is to create an atmosphere that both replicates the experience of a studio visit while also providing the fresh and ever-changing content of an art salon.”

“London remains one of the largest art markets and an important location for us as a business” said co-founder David Maupin. “We are very fortunate to have strong leadership in London in our Senior Director Isabella Icoz, a loyal network of clients who have supported the gallery for years, and the opportunity to pursue ambitious projects with our artists while deepening our relationships with the city’s museums and cultural community.”

Lehmann Maupin’s opening program, timed to coincide with London’s Frieze Week, will feature a combination of digital and physical programming. The first major in-person activation will feature a residency with British artist Billy Childish (October 5–25, 2020) where he will transform the space into an active studio and develop a series of new paintings on-site inspired by a book of intimate autobiographical photographs to be published on the occasion of this residency: billy childish, photography 1974 – 2020 (L-13 Light Industrial Workshop 2020). Intended as an immersive experience, the public will be invited to witness Childish’s creative process firsthand. Midway through the residency, Lehmann Maupin will also host a public conversation with Childish to provide deeper insight into his multi-dimensional practice..

In addition, Lehmann Maupin will present a selection of work by gallery artists Kader Attia, Shirazeh Houshiary, Lari Pittman, and Nari Ward who each engage with the concept of identity (both personal and collective) in order to provide an expansive view of the visual arts today. This selection also creates a bridge to significant presentations of the artists’ work around the world, on view or upcoming soon, including Pittman’s major traveling retrospective at The Twist - Kistefos Museum in Norway; Ward’s solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Denver, Colorado; Attia’s solo exhibition at Kunsthaus Zurich in Switzerland; and Houshiary's work included in an upcoming exhibition at The Moody Center for the Arts, Rice University, Houston, Texas.

Timed with its physical opening, the gallery will launch an online exhibition, LONDON CALLING (October 5–30), featuring iconic works by Billy Childish, Mandy El-Sayegh, Gilbert & George, Shirazeh Houshiary, Do Ho Suh, and Juergen Teller. Each of these artists from the gallery’s program have developed deep connections to London over the years, having made the city their chosen home, and even the subject or inspiration for their work.

Lehmann Maupin London will be led by Senior Director Isabella Kairis Icoz, who has been with the gallery since 2010 and who works closely with the gallery’s artists Gilbert & George, Shirazeh Houshiary, and Do Ho Suh, among others.