Every year, like cicadas and Europeans, the art world disappears in August. But before that, New York galleries were traditionally a group show – usually modest, often subjective, and sometimes miraculous. However, in recent years, dealers and critics have lamented that these shows will feel timid, incoherent or like thin attempts to uninstall unsold stocks. Some wonder if the group performance was doomed to disappear completely.
But when talking to dealers and consultants, it seems like the once boring summer group show doesn’t completely disappear. Instead, the gallery has become clearer about the true purpose of these shows.
Most summer performances are not intended to remake the typical. What most of them do – Quite, imperfect – helps the gallery maintain visibility during slow seasons, provides experimental balloons for emerging artists, and promotes a mid-level network that powers the art world when larger machines are idle at the time. In their best case scenario, these shows let you see work like never before. The summer group shows that, even in a state of decline, the summer group is still an important place for soft functions: relationship building, artistic development and subtle market testing.
for Alex Glauberchair of the Association of Professional Art Consultants, group exhibitions often fall into two buckets. A typical summer group performance is “a thoughtful curatorial effort designed to have a conversation, or a performance built for relationships, which is how artists stay close and collectors involved.” Artnews.
Both approaches have their advantages, but the challenge lies in execution, he said. Group performances often involve artists from other galleries, which can become expensive once you consider shipping and installation, and when consignment goods are involved with partner dealers, the gallery’s revenue usually decreases. The same split may also make it more difficult to secure top-notch pieces, as some dealers prefer to give up the pieces they would rather sell directly than share.
“Profits get tighter and everyone gets less,” he said.
That’s what makes it even more amazing when the gallery is not only in line with obligations, but also has real intentions, even a sense of gameplay. Adam Cohenfounder of Chelsea Gallery A Hug from the Arts World, opened his first summer group show this year, provided he manages to tease him on Art-World Solemnity while still taking the work seriously.
Install the “eyes open” shot in the hug of the art world.
Jenny Gorman
Titled “Open Eyes,” the show is organized by 14-year-old Luke Newsom (son of painter John Newsom), who approaches Cohen with publicity, and it’s a surprisingly powerful list. Cohen told Artnews. “He has a vision and I want to respect that.”
Still, it’s more than just a novel act. The show includes works by Kaws, Urs Fischer and Raymond Pettibon. “It has inherent lightness, but that doesn’t mean it lacks strictness,” Cohen said. “You can do it if you do it. The fun of summer doesn’t have to be at the expense of substance.”
Cohen added that the real reason that really makes Newsom’s gig work is that it’s the people who build relationships. “The group shows are connected,” he said. “They are the way you start talking to artists, collectors. It’s more important than all sells.”
Almost every dealer was interviewed for the piece, which echoed the logo of the summer performance. The success of such a show is rarely measured strictly in sales, but in visibility, and the chances of outcomes, just like future institutional placements.
The fusion of ambition and openness also describes the “Summer Reading,” a group exhibition by Galerie Lelong organized by assistant director Grace Hong. The show centers on reading behavior (literal, visual, metaphorical) and includes outstanding works by Martha Rosler and John Clang. (Clang’s ongoing series “Readed by the Artist,” in which he used the system of ancient Chinese metaphysics to produce live portraits of participants in the gallery, recently introduced at the Sharjah Biennale; these works are now debuting in New York here.)
Mary SabbatinoLelong’s New York Space Director Artnews She believes the group is manifested as open institutions and professional doors vehicles – yes, but also young galleries. She pointed to the gallery’s 2022 exhibition “Open Doors,” a collaboration with Welancora Gallery and Luis de Jesus Los Angeles. Welancora continued to do Frieze La for the first time in the second year.
“The group show is a place to have a chance,” Sabatino said. “If you don’t use them to open the venue, why bother?”
For Timothy Taylor’s gallery, summer performances are a strategic release valve for sales pressure. Its current exhibition, “Children Are Not Good”, brings together more than 40 artists to explore the real and imaginary life of children. The show features artists, from Ruby Sky Stiler and Gordon Parks to Dominic Chambers and Cecily Brown, but the goal is more than just breadth.
“It’s easy to sit in our hands and say we know who we are,” the partner said. Chloe Waddington Tell Artnews. “But summer provides us with space to relax, invite different voices and touch those who may not walk through the door.”
She said the gallery plan six to eight months ahead of schedule shows enough time to ensure strong work, manage shipping costs, and think through tone and conceptual thinking. Delivery time also helps balance books.
While group exhibitions can be expensive, especially among multiple loans and distant goods, Windington stresses that they don’t have to be budget businesses. There is usually no dinner, nor a champagne tower. What is the gallery’s opening gesture this year? Ice cream truck.
“It’s not about wonder,” she said. “It’s about building a relationship. This summer, we met consultants and collectors who have never been to a gallery before. It’s a win.”
While not all the shows are for sale, there are a lot of them that do sell—perhaps, this romp and profitability are not mutually exclusive.
Still, it has been obvious in the past few years that there are a lot of galleries sitting in the summer. Among those who skip the summer: Bortolami, David Kordansky, Andrew Kreps, Pace and Alexander Gray.
“We haven’t been in a group show for three years.” Fionna FlahertyLehmann Maupin’s partner told Artnews. “There was a time when you couldn’t travel through Chelsea when you couldn’t trip over a group show in July. But just because it was tradition doesn’t mean it would be useful.”
The gallery has not completely opted out of summer. Lehmann Maupin, in its New York location, exhibited two solo exhibitions through Arcmanoro Niles and Tammy Nguyen, which Faherty described as part of a broader program to support artists ahead of institutional milestones or shifts in market focus.
Is the summer group performance dead? Not exactly. Faherty said she was not against the format, she was just skeptical of inertia.
“If we do it again, we want it to have a real purpose. Otherwise it will be a filler,” she said.
