In a surprise move, New York art dealer David Lewis announced on Instagram that he is closing his eponymous gallery after 11 years.
Lewis first opened a space on the Lower East Side at 88 Eldridge Street, before becoming part of the wave of galleries moving to Tribeca, when he took a storefront at 57 Walker Street in September 2021.
His roster currently includes acclaimed artists of various generations, including the painter Trey Abdella; the late master of assemblage, Thornton Dial, the pioneering feminist Mary Beth Edelson, who died in 2021; and the conceptual figure Barbara Bloom.
Lewis did not respond to request for comment.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to work with such brilliant artists,” he said in the post. “It’s time now for a new chapter.”
The social-media post, made on what is typically a quiet Friday afternoon ahead of a long holiday weekend in the United States, reads, “During its run, the gallery presented 80 exhibitions. ‘Everyone Loves Picabia,’ a group exhibition marking the gallery’s roots, is also the gallery’s final show.”
Lewis’s gallery was a regular at high-profile art fairs like Frieze (New York, Los Angeles and London) and Art Basel (Basel and Miami Beach).
Trey Abdella, Rubbing it in(2023) Image courtesy the artist and David Lewis.
Along with his current Picabia show, Lewis posted installation images of some of his exhibitions, including “Dial/Hammons/Rauschenberg” (2023) “John Boskovich” (2020), and “The Story of O(OO)” (2015).”
Before venturing into the art trade, Lewis worked as an art critic in Paris. In 2011, he was a partner in a short-lived Manhattan outpost of the Parisian gallery Balice Hertling.
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