Edel Assanti is opening a second space in London, joining a cluster of contemporary art galleries around Christie’s headquarters in St. James’s. “We wanted an intimate space that would contrast with our Fitzrovia gallery, which is generous in size and presents four ambitious exhibitions a year,” says co-founder and director Jeremy Epstein. He says they expect to mount about eight shows a year in the new space.
Art fairs, he says, “are an important part of our strategy, so we could have taken a decision to increase the number in which we participate, however as exhibitions are consistently our most successful sales platform, we wanted to explore how we could develop that aspect of the gallery.”
The smaller size of 11 Bury Street—450 sq ft versus Fitzrovia’s 4,000 sq ft—dictates more “snapshot” exhibitions, “with the ability to be nimble with our programme,” says co-founder and director Charlie Fellowes. The opening show, of swirling paintings on quilts by American artist Lonnie Holley, will have just three works, priced at $55,000 each, and made during a residency at the Elaine de Kooning House in East Hampton, New York in 2020-21. Their showing coincides with the artist’s recent commissioned presentation for the Castello di Rivoli in Turin, which includes two more recent quilt paintings.
Future shows could highlight other artists with coinciding museum exhibitions or could include having the same artist across both venues. “Fleet of footedness” is the name of the game, Fellowes says.
While they considered farther-flung locations, “London has no shortage of pools of potential collectors and patrons who are curious to engage with art. We feel galleries have a key role to play in cultivating the prospective new audiences on our doorstep,” Fellowes says.The decision to double up in the capital is proving something of a market trend, and follows the likes of Sadie Coles and Maureen Paley, who added to their London spaces last year.
The Edel Assanti duo acknowledges the challenging conditions of the wider market but, Fellowes says, “we are finding in our experience, across both seasoned collectors and the newer generation, that there isn't necessarily a shortage of resources, it’s simply that people are more methodical and selective about what they choose to acquire.” The dynamic is best served through “the deeper context afforded by gallery exhibitions,” Epstein says.
The new space, neighbouring The Mayor Gallery, will have a soft opening at the end of this month, with its official launch pegged to London Gallery Weekend (which Epstein co-founded) on 5 June. Lonnie Holley: Coming Through the Doors runs until 3 July.
Meanwhile Emalin, another London gallery founded in the 2010s, also announced an expansion this week. The gallery will shift its main premises from Shoreditch to Clerkenwell, taking over the 5,000 sq ft Helmet Row space recently vacated by Modern Art. Emalin will retain its second space at the historic The Clerk's House in Shoreditch.
"Our dedication to London as an unflinching epicentre for art is affirmed by our continued presence here," the gallery's co-founders, Angelina Volk and Leopold Thun, said in a statement. "This year, many of the gallery's artists are taking on important institutional presentations," they continued. "It seems only fitting that this moment marks the next chapter of the gallery as we move into our new premises."
