Artists work for years to produce bodies of work and prepare for exhibitions, and when every gallery and museum in the world has to close, the disappointment touches everyone: the public, curators and critics, art handlers, shippers, clients. But it’s especially hard for artists, and this pause on exhibitions is unprecedented. We discussed presenting our scheduled exhibitions online, but that is not how they were conceived. We needed a solution that didn’t require our artists to make that compromise. So that is the challenge for us—you innovate and keep your resources and strategies flexible to support your artists when your doors have to temporarily close to a volatile world. And when the market is volatile, it is precision that gets you through.
—Larry Gagosian
As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the globe, and arts institutions and galleries worldwide temporarily close their doors to support all efforts to contain the outbreak, art exhibitions everywhere are being canceled, postponed, or curtailed. For artists who have invested time, energy, and resources for shows now directly affected by the health crisis, Gagosian is launching Artist Spotlight—a new, multifaceted online program that gives undivided attention to individual artists, one week at a time.
Using Gagosian’s extensive editorial and media channels as an open platform, artists, one by one, are invited to present their work to the world, allowing them not only to share their stories but also to continue generating support for their studios.
Artist Spotlight launches on April 8, with the New York–based artist Sarah Sze. On the eve of Sze’s exhibition opening at Gagosian, Paris, the city was shut down. While her artworks wait in galleries temporarily closed to the public, Gagosian has collaborated closely with Sze to bring her art and her ideas in many forms to a global audience online.
Each week Gagosian will highlight one artist, and present a single artwork—making it available with pricing information exclusively on gagosian.com for forty-eight hours only. Artworks will be complemented by a rich weave of editorial features—including videos, interviews, and essays, as well as artists’ playlists, book and film recommendations, and more—to provide engaging insights into artistic practice and process, inspirations and influences.
The featured artists include Sarah Sze, Stanley Whitney, Jennifer Guidi, Roe Ethridge, Titus Kaphar, Katharina Grosse, Theaster Gates, Dan Colen, Urs Fischer, Mark Grotjahn, Mary Weatherford, Rudolf Polanszky, Damien Hirst, and Jenny Saville.
A new Artist Spotlight will be unveiled every Wednesday, starting on April 8, 2020. The selected work by the highlighted artist will be made available on Friday at 6am EDT.
#GagosianSpotlight