Mixed Bag: How the NYC Art World is Responding to COVID-19
As public museums and institutions remain closed and struggle to adapt, private galleries are picking up the slack and redefining the art experience in the COVID-19 world.
Few industries have been as fundamentally challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic as much as the art world. COVID-19, a contagious new virus that has spread rapidly through the world, has not slowed down in the United States. Two of art’s most dependable resources- lots of people and indoor space- have been effectively banned. Presently, gone are field trips to The MET with lunch at McDonald’s, lavish Chelsea opening nights with shoulder-to-shoulder glasses of champagne, and heated auctions uptown (though record online sales haven’t slowed down). And while the private gallery scene hasn’t always been necessarily “inviting”, the knee-jerk reaction to COVID-19 by the art world has been to slam the doors and wait it out. But as the pandemic proved its staying power, new forms of experiencing art have cropped up, led by galleries and individuals rethinking where art can exist.
As New York begins to slowly reopen, galleries are making decisions on how to approach renewed access. With prime clients staying away, blue-chip galleries such as Pace Gallery have chosen to move east to The Hamptons, setting up pop-up galleries for clients that have left the city. In the interest of sales, some galleries have gone as far as presented work in client homes. Other galleries such as Gagosian have stayed closed through the run of the pandemic and quietly update their client lists with new arrivals.
Screenshot of David Zwirner’s “Studio” experience for Suzan Frecon
For those have been missing the satisfaction of seeing art, many galleries have gone online with ‘viewing rooms’. These online rooms are limited in scope and vary widely in experience. David Zwirner offers a gated experience- you must supply an email- that is fairly sophisticated, with personalized and proprietary looks at artists and works together. Viewers are able to get richer context and background that even a gallery visit cannot offer. Paula Cooper offers generous glimpses of the detail in works with super hi-res imagery. Skarstedt Gallery has imagery that contextualizes the work in a room. The viewing room concept is good for it’s low-risk browsing style (it’s easy to get scared in a real art gallery), but some viewing rooms are quite bad, with nothing more than a contact sheet of works and an email address to inquire about work. Viewing rooms are also expensive to set up, leaving smaller galleries unable to keep up. For these smaller galleries, Instagram remains a valuable place to display art, even if the viewport isn’t the most ideal. Across the board, the delight of gallery-hoping is lost online, no matter how many viewing rooms you visit.
View of Half Gallery, NYC
Some have tried to merge the real-world with augmented online experiences. Half Gallery’s Bill Powers curated ‘Under Glass’ group show. The exhibition, viewable from the street, features works by Tom Sachs, Chloe Wise, Richard Prince and others. It was not meant to be presented this way originally, but with an audio narration component, viewers (those on the street) can listen directly to the artist discussing the work while they look. This isn’t a groundbreaking concept- the window display has existed for a long time- but this new way of engagement is refreshing. The work itself is selected intentionally to have some relation to the current global moment- the work is colorful and of all sizes, offering appealing curiosity to the casual passerby, and true excitement for the art aficionado. That show has since closed, but the current exhibition, a solo Ted Pim show, can be seen from the windows with three large high-contrast paintings of bouquets dominate the interior- a certain stillness that feels particularly apt.
NOT FOR THE PEAK, BUT FOR THE MOUNTAIN (2020) by Andrew Erdos
Other galleries have opted to cautiously open to extremely limited guests with rewarding solo shows. The Chimney, in East Williamsburg, has always approached viewing with intimacy and individuality. Andrew Erdos’ Not for the Peak, But for the Mountain is particularly appropriate for individual viewing: a monumental 12’ x 12’ sculpture of glass, commissioned for the dark space. In the time of COVID-19, intention feels deeply necessary and the aesthetic is refreshing: a glowing and translucent mountain with pools of water is remarkable in how organic it feels in a world that has now become consumed by hygiene and sterility. The work is convincing to the extent that one could think it’s naturally occuring, but is in fact the work of a complex process: Two metal tanks filled with water are contained within the piece. The exterior is covered with hundreds of layers of molten glass which drip, causing the water to momentarily boil and steam, before regaining stillness. Regarding visits to the gallery, The Chimney is taking all necessary precautions for guests to feel safe and be healthy. Nothing is being rushed here.
From totally shut down to open with conditions, where art goes next is anyone’s guess. A new crop of private art clubs such as YCL are leading curator and collector talks online (and slowly merging back into very intimate physical events). Some galleries and museums are democratizing discussions with gallerists and artists via Zoom and Skype. Instagram Live has brought many viewers into the studio space of artists and creators that would otherwise be closed off. Seeing the process of art has definitely gotten easier. Talking about art is getting more convenient and altogether, art has become more personal and dynamic. It feels like a certain return to a rare grassroots-ness that has been long missing.