After months of speculation, it's finally official: the blue-chip New York gallery David Zwirner is opening in London. And they are thinking big. Led by director Angela Choon, the new gallery, to be inaugurated next October and will stretch to 10,000 square feet, spread over the five floors of a Georgian townhouse on 24 Grafton Street redesigned by art world darling Annabelle Selldorf.
Zwirner's arrival in London confirms the vibrancy of the art trade in the British capital, and the city's attractive geographical position in relation to the Asian and Middle Eastern markets. But competition will be tough. Behemoth galleries are mushrooming everywhere in London. Launched in October 2010, Hauser & Wirth's 15,000-square-foot venue on Savile Row was soon dwarfed by White Cube's gigantic 58,000-square-foot space, which opened the following year in Bermondsey. The next few months will also see the opening of Pace's London gallery (their current and generously proportioned outpost in the city's Soho neighborhood is now to be considered a "viewing room"). Milan's Massimo di Carlo is also said to be planning a large venue.
As she prepares to leap the Pond, Choon spoke with ARTINFO UK about the reasons behind Zwirner's incursion into London.
Why London now?
Over the past few years we have expanded in New York. In Chelsea, we started with one space on West 19th Street, then later added two major additional adjacent spaces. Just one block away on West 20th Street, we are currently building a major 30,000-square-foot gallery from the ground up, due to open at the end of this year. We have been considering a European outpost for some time now, and we began looking for a space in earnest in London about a year and a half ago. We continue to work closely with so many museums throughout Europe, as we have for many, many years. And of course we have collectors in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East — so London seemed like the next logical step.
What can London offer that New York can't?
Both London and New York have a lot to offer to both artists and collectors, and we see the locations working in tandem to each other in terms of the gallery’s programming. That said, to have a physical space now in London will be an ideal location for the collectors and curators from Europe, but also, as I mentioned, to those from the Middle East and Asia. There has been a warm and positive reception already to our news about London, which seems to have been an open secret in the art world, and our own expansion along with other recent international arrivals in London re-enforces the city as a major cultural center, certainly the center of the European art world.
You've chosen Mayfair, when other areas such as Fitzrovia or Bermondsey are fast becoming new art hubs in London. Why is it important to be at the epicenter of the city's historic fine art district?
Historically Mayfair is a gallery area and its centralized location makes it easy for collectors, especially those who travel a lot. The building itself was also a major draw for us, as it is substantial in size and the main exhibition floors have very high ceilings and good natural light.
In such a globalized art world, does location still matter?
David Zwirner is a global operation, and most especially over the past few years, as in addition to Frieze and Art Basel we have participated in art fairs in Hong Kong, Dubai, and elsewhere. We also have a new salesperson, Charlie Spalding, based in Hong Kong who is on the ground for us throughout Asia.
Isn't there a concern that the Eurozone crisis might affect the art market in the UK and in the region at large?
London has traditionally been a safe haven for foreign investment and therefore many nationalities either have homes there or pass through the city on a regular basis. Like in any global business, we are always mindful of any economic or political crisis and how to adjust during those difficult times. We are putting our full confidence in London.
What was the brief to Annabelle Selldorf? What was the top priority in redesigning 24 Grafton Street?
Since Annabelle has worked on all the gallery spaces, she understands the overall Zwirner aesthetic, how art needs to be viewed and protected, and how natural light plays an important part. Given that the original building in Mayfair is a townhouse, we knew that we would be dealing with very different galleries from the large loft-like spaces we have here in New York. The London spaces will be spacious, but more intimate. And with the sidelight, rather than skylights, they will have a somewhat domestic feel to them. We think this will allow for a unique viewing opportunity for the works we want to show. Much of the original interior architectural detail in the building was altered long ago, so Annabelle is able to provide very clean, clear details for the spaces that will showcase the art while still maintaining the character of the building in the grand entry staircase and other places.
How will this new venue affect the programming?
It’s exciting to know that we have new spaces for our artists, and having Luc Tuymans have the first exhibition in the Mayfair space is exciting. He is titling it "Allo!" and it will be all new paintings. This will be his first show in London since his 2004 retrospective at Tate Modern. I have been with Zwirner since the very beginning — and Luc had his very first U.S. exhibition at our space in SoHo [in New York] — so I have worked with Luc for all these years. It’s great to come full circle with him in London.
Could you envisage shows simultaneously held at all the galleries?
Anything is possible.
A version of this story originally appeared on ARTINFO UK.