“Be True to Your School: Galleries in a Changing World”

Sadie Coles, Founder, Sadie Coles HQ
Mónica Manzutto, Co-Founder, kurimanzutto
Jasmin Tsou, Director, Lisson Gallery, New York

Moderated by Andrew Russeth, journalist and art critic

Back in 2008, the art critic Dave Hickey complained that contemporary art galleries had become “department stores.” While “stables of artists once embodied the taste of the gallerist,” Hickey told the journalist Sarah Douglas, dealers were now showing a little bit of everything. “So they make more profit, but they have less power and influence”, he said. Over the past 16 years, many stables have grown as galleries have expanded, while art fairs and the internet have spread trends around the world. How can galleries maintain unique identities in this homogenizing environment? How can they be collaborative in an increasingly competitive landscape? How can they reflect a society that is undergoing rapid change? How can they fight against a monocultural art world—and make history?