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Pace Gallery Slashes Artists, Staff by Half
4 Jun
Summary
- Pace Gallery is downsizing its artist roster by 50 and staff by 50.
- The gallery aims to return to core relationships and artistic focus.
- Economic challenges and market shifts prompted this significant reduction.
Pace Gallery is set to announce a substantial downsizing, reducing its roster by approximately 50 artists and its staff by 50 people. This strategic shift, representing about a 30% decrease in artists and a 20% staff reduction, aims to bring the gallery back to its core values and artistic focus.
CEO Marc Glimcher stated that the art gallery system had become "too big, too commercial, too impersonal and too corporate." This retrenchment is a response to current economic challenges, including high inflation and global uncertainty, which have impacted even major galleries.
The gallery, established 65 years ago, represents prominent artists and estates, including David Hockney and the estate of Alexander Calder. This move signifies a return to "basics," as Glimcher put it, emphasizing core relationships over the "market commercial phenomenon" of the past two decades.
Pace's efforts to adapt have included past initiatives like stepping back from Superblue, closing a California space, and opening a Tokyo gallery. Despite these changes, Pace maintains its flagship headquarters and continues to explore secondary market sales and new artist representation judiciously.
