Launched in April 2020, the project ended its debut season with the sale of Jenny Saville’s work for several million dollars.
The pandemic has forced galleries to change the way they work and interact with creators. The Artist Spotlight project was Gagosian’s response to this challenge.
Gagosian Gallery is located around the world: in New York (5); London (3); Paris (2); one each in Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Rome, Athens, Basel, Geneva, and Hong Kong. They feature some of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.
During the week, specially created virtual viewing rooms showcased work or a series of works by authors whose exhibitions within the walls of the gallery or appearances at fairs at the Gagosian stands were canceled due to the pandemic. Every week the exposition was completely changed. The demonstration of each piece of art was accompanied by a whole range of videos and texts, including the author’s biography, interviews with him, art history essays, etc. Site visitors had exactly 48 hours to make a purchase decision at the end of each exhibition period. In this form, the project lasted 14 weeks.
In the first season of the project, Jenny Saville was accompanied by Sarah Sze, Jennifer Guidi, Titus Kaphar, Mark Grotrian, Urs Fischer, and Damien Hirst.
Artist Spotlight’s significant deals include the sale of Untitled (Capri 52.56) 2019 by Mark Grotrian ($ 800,000), Veil of Hidden Meaning (2017–2018) by Damien Hirst ($ 2.2 million) and Arcimboldo by Urs Fischer ($ 775 thousand). The gallery noted that thanks to the project, a total of about 50 works were sold, both exhibited in virtual halls and not included in the online exposition. In particular, one of Grotrian’s works, which was not exhibited in the Artist Spotlight, was sold for $ 5 million.
The Gagosian Gallery is gradually removing sanitary restrictions, but the gallery’s management said that the Artist Spotlight project would continue in the same format in the new fall season. Ed Ruscha, John Kerring, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, and others are expected to appear in online exhibits in the future.
