Over the last few days two news stories have assessed the recession’s mostly grim impact on art galleries in various cities across the country. The L.A. Times’ Suzanne Muchnic delivered the more positive of the two by focusing on the surprising opportunities, real estate-wise and otherwise, that the recession has brought to some L.A. dealers. Muchnic provides a rundown on the spaces that have closed over the past several months, including Anna Helwing Gallery, Lizabeth Oliveria and D.E.N. in Culver City and Mary Goldman Gallery, Black Dragon, the Project and Mesler & Hug in Chinatown. Forum, located in West Hollywood, and Carl Berg Gallery, in mid-Wilshire, have also closed. But other dealers, like Susanne Vielmetter, have found that drastically lower rents in desirable areas are allowing them to make big moves that weren’t possible a few years ago. Read the full story here:
L.A.’s Galleries Reframe the Recession
A similar story by the AP contained less hopeful information. Focusing on Scottsdale, AZ, Santa Fe, NM, Portland, OR and New York City, writer Amanda Lee Myers (citing Artnet magazine) reports that in the past two years, 24 galleries in Manhattan–most of them in Chelsea–have shut their doors. In Santa Fe, the article notes, between 10 and 15 galleries have closed this year.
Read the Associated Press story here:
The Art of a Recession: Gallery Owners Struggling (AP story via Art Fag City).
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