Since she launched her eponymous gallery in Paris in 1993 after a stint working at Galerie Daniel Templon, French gallerist Nathalie Obadia has climbed the ranks of the international art scene to become one of Europe’s most respected and influential gallerists.
Galerie Nathalie Obadia has an impressive stable of artists to its name including the likes of Rina Banerjee, Luc Delahaye, Fiona Rae, Sarkis, and Martin Barré and is renowned for having organized the first solo shows of artists such as Lorna Simpson and Enoc Perez who are now established stars.
In 2008 Galerie Nathalie Obadia expanded into Belgium with a new gallery space at 8 rue Charles Decoster in Brussels and in 2013, the 20th anniversary of the gallery, Obadia opened another Paris space at 18 rue du Bourg-Tibourg.
As Nathalie Obadia was preparing for a major exhibition in Paris of the work of Indian-born Manhattan-based artist Rina Banerjee (see slideshow here) which is currently on show at the gallery’s Bourg-Tibourg space, BLOUIN ARTINFO got in touch with Obadia and asked her a few questions.
Name: Nathalie Obadia
Hails from: Paris, France
Director of: Galerie Nathalie Obadia
Gallery’s specialty: contemporary art
Artists represented:
Brook Andrew, Barry X Ball, Rina Banerjee, Martin Barré, Valérie Belin, Carole Benzaken, Guillaume Bresson, Ricardo Brey, Rosson Crow, Luc Delahaye, Michael DeLucia, Jean Dewasne, Patrick Faigenbaum, Roland Flexner, Fabrice Hyber, Shirley Jaffe, Sophie Kuijken, Thomas Lerooy, Eugène Leroy, Meuser, Youssef Nabil, Frank Nitsche, Manuel Ocampo, Enoc Perez, Chloe Piene, Pascal Pinaud, Laure Prouvost, Jorge Queiroz, Fiona Rae, Sarkis, Pieter Schoolwerth, Mithu Sen, Andres Serrano, Lorna Simpson, Jessica Stockholder, Mickalene Thomas, Nicola Tyson, Joris Van de Moortel, Jeffrey Vallance, Agnès Varda, Brenna Youngblood, Xu Zhen by MadeIn Company.
What exciting shows do you have planned for the remainder of 2015, from August onwards?
In Paris we will hold an exhibition of the very important French painter Eugène Leroy who died in 2000 and who hasn't had a personal exhibition in a gallery since 2008. Later in Paris we will present an exhibition of one of the best Afro-American artists, Edgar Arceneaux. In Brussels we will show the major German sculptor Meuser, and in November we will present Mickalene Thomas’s first exhibition in Belgium.
Describe the vision of the gallery and how the program is developed?
Nowadays, a gallerist must have an international vision in both their program and their actions, such as with participation in foreign fairs. But my role in both of the countries I work, in Paris and in Brussels, is to promote our national and foreign artists to the local public. The gallery has to remain the space of reference and of meeting where we are at the disposal of the collectors, art critics, and curators to make our artistic commitments known. I have never thought that galleries would be less necessary with the competition with art fairs and auctions houses. On the contrary; they are an essential meeting places where the artist can express himself with the most amount of freedom.
What have been some of the most significant achievements and landmark moments of the gallery?
This year was particularly rich; a large number of the gallery’s artists participated in important institutional exhibitions – artists such as as Lorna Simpson, Ricardo Brey, and Sarkis who represented Turkey at the Venice Biennial. Valérie Belin had her first exhibition at the Centre Pompidou; Fabrice Hyber is the subject of a very complete monograph on 30 years of his pictorial work at the CRAC of Sète; Laure Prouvost has her first personal exhibition in a museum in France, at the Museum of Rochechouart; and Thomas Lerooy, a young Belgian sculptor has inaugurated the program of contemporary art in the Petit Palais in Paris this spring.
How has the art market changed since you entered the business?
The market has become more and more international, structured, and top heavy. It has become a two-speed market with very fast successes with important prices on one side, and on the other side a more serious market with proper prices which evolve regularly with the legitimization of the artists thanks to exhibitions in museums and acquisitions by serious collections.
What was the last piece of art that thoroughly impressed you and why?
After a journey in New England where the wealth of museums is impressive, I thought that the painting “Rétroactive” 1964 by Robert Rauschenberg in the Wasdsforth Athenaeum, Harftford (CT) was a masterpiece. At the same time very beautiful, moving, and very interesting, it summarizes America between the dream of the conquest (astronauts) and the reality (murdered Kennedy). It shows the strength and the fragility of the nation of America with an outstanding destiny.
What has been your most memorable moment as a gallerist?
February 6th, 1993; my gallery's first day of opening. It was my dream since I was a teenager. Every day since then is an inexhaustible adventure.
If you weren’t a gallerist, you’d probably be ….
Lawyer, journalist, business, but overall related to international economics and political systems.
Art is….
Art is an inexhaustible source of reflection.
