“Art was being absorbed by this relentless activity” of the art world circuit, Abreu says. “It was stripped of its power of expression—to reach people and engage people—and the result was that everybody had been forced into the position of shopping and not collecting anymore.”
Even Zwirner and Payot, each helming one of the largest galleries in the world, say galleries needed to change.
“We’ll all run our business differently,” says Zwirner. Everything from the obvious—a plexiglass divider at the reception desk, appointments scheduled in advance, and galleries leaning even more heavily than before on digital “previews” of shows sent out to clients—to how many art fairs Zwirner will attend every year is being reconsidered. “There was almost a hysteria in the art world to be everywhere at all times.” That, he says “needs to be rethought.”
Payot agrees that travel particularly needs to be scaled back. “This crisis has made us think of everything differently,” he says. “The relationship between digital and physical [sales], how much do we actually need in terms of events and openings, and how much do we actually need to travel?”
Boesky is reconfiguring about one-half of her gallery as semi-private exhibition spaces. “Does it make sense for me to have a 15,000-square-foot public exhibition space?” she asks rhetorically. “It doesn’t, because we can’t have a gathering of 500 people for an opening.”
The forced reset, Boesky continues, has compelled her to take a step back to reconsider what’s good for her, her artists, and her staff.
“The life we lived prior was not reasonable, it was insane,” she says. “I’m looking forward to a new normal—and not chasing my tail 24/7.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.