NEW YORK, NY.- As the art world descended on this city for the Frieze Art Fair this week and New York galleries continue to announce Los Angeles branches, David Zwirner revealed the details of a new three-building gallery complex he plans to open in East Hollywood in January 2023.
In recent years, this has become such fertile ground, Zwirner said, adding that the collector base has deepened and museums in particular The Broad in Los Angeles have become increasingly dynamic. There is a real strong local arts scene, and we want to be part of it.
With the new 15,000-square-foot project, Zwirner joins his fellow megagalleries, which have long had a presence in Los Angeles: Gagosian, which opened in 1995 in Beverly Hills, and Hauser & Wirth, which opened in the downtown arts district in 2016 and is opening a second space in West Hollywood next fall.
Earlier this month, Pace announced that it was merging with Los Angeles gallery Kayne Griffin to open a new California home in Mid-Wilshire in April; the gallery also has a branch in Palo Alto.
Several other galleries have also recently announced plans to open in Los Angeles, including Sean Kelly, Lisson Gallery, Sargents Daughters, Shrine and The Hole.
Asked to comment on Zwirners entry to the party, Larry Gagosian said: I wish him well.
Zwirners newly constructed three-story building, at 606 N. Western Ave., will open with an exhibition of new work by Los Angeles-based artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby, whom the gallery has represented since 2018.
Two existing one-story adjacent buildings that originated as Hollywood prop shops in the 1930s will be restored and renovated at 612 and 616 N. Western Ave. between Melrose Avenue and Clinton Street. Programming for these will be announced in the upcoming months.
The entire project will be designed by New York-based Selldorf Architects with Twinsteps Architecture as executive architect. Zwirner has locations in New York, London, Paris and Hong Kong.
The Los Angeles spaces will be led by Alexandra Tuttle, who joined Zwirner in early February as a senior director, and Robert Goff, a senior director, who has been with the gallery since 2015.
In addition to exhibition space, the gallery will include offices, private viewing rooms and a dedicated parking area. There will also be 3,000 square feet of outdoor space and a garden.
There will not be a restaurant, Zwirner said, in what could be read as a thinly veiled jibe to Hauser & Wirth, whose gallery includes the popular Manuela cafe: Only art.
This article originally appeared in
The New York Times.