New York’s Emerging Galleries Double Down
Three young New York dealers showing in this year’s Focus reveal their secret weapon: complete commitment to their artists, however complex
Three young New York dealers showing in this year’s Focus reveal their secret weapon: complete commitment to their artists, however complex
In the perpetual turning of the market wheel, the last two years have been a difficult season. So, what’s it like running an emerging gallery in New York in 2025? ‘Well, I don’t recommend it,’ says Anton Svyatsky of Management with a laugh. But for young galleries exhibiting in the Focus section at Frieze New York there is one path to success: sticking to the basics and supporting work you really believe in.
Svyatsky opened Management in Chinatown in 2021. In Focus this year, he will be showing new works by New York-based artist Tahir Carl Karmali made from construction materials and bodily fluids. ‘I don’t necessarily think that the Leo Castelli model is in need of revision,’ he says, referring to the Italian-American who pioneered the contemporary art gallery system in the 1950s. ‘That model is to seek out exceptional talent and to become the viral agent for those artists, the mode of contagion that spreads that talent around the world.’
Castelli represented influential artists across different movements, from abstract expressionist painters like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning to pop artists like Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol. He was also known for the unswerving financial support of his artists, effectively paying some of them a salary whether their work sold or not.
Seek out exceptional talent and become the viral agent for those artists.
In these times of uncertainty, Svyatsky – perhaps counterintuitively – suggests that this kind of all-in commitment is the only way to survive. Boom periods, when people are chasing market trends, can work to the detriment of young artists’ careers: as margins narrow, smaller galleries need to keep the attention of collectors who may have lost trust when the market slowed down. For Svyatsky, the only way to attract the trust of collectors is by sticking to an ambitious programme and, of course, showing the best work possible wherever collectors happen to be, including art fairs.
For Sophie Mörner of SoHo’s Company, participating in art fairs has been essential in establishing the gallery. ‘Art fairs are a big expense for young galleries with all the staffing, travel and shipping,’ she says, ‘but collectors expect you to be there.’ Yet, as someone who has also participated in the committees of art fairs (including Frieze), Mörner has witnessed the efforts that fairs around the world have made to reduce the financial burden of exhibiting for emerging galleries. Focus, for example, sees both Frieze and section sponsor Stone Island subsidizing the participating galleries.
Another way that Mörner has found to diffuse outlay is by collaboration. In this year’s Focus section, Company will be presenting works by Bulgarian painter Stefania Batoeva in collaboration with Champ Lacombe, a gallery with spaces in London and Biarritz in France. For an artist who has primarily shown in Europe, the Focus section at Frieze ‘is a great opportunity for her to get some New York eyes on the work’, says Taylor Trabulus, a partner at Company since 2022.
Having ‘eyes on the work’ – by getting young collectors into their physical spaces to discover artists –is a shared goal for this community of young dealers. Comparing notes with dealers who have been in the art world for decades, emerging gallerists are noticing that new collectors are increasingly likely to initially encounter the market through online platforms. There is a new breed of collector who is less dependent on dealers to guide them through the opacities of the art world. While this might offer new collectors easy access to buying art (since the social dance of buying work at a gallery can be intimidating), it can also mean that there is less support for more challenging work as collectors miss the chance to be educated by art experts. But there is still a core group of people who avail themselves of the daring and erudition that small physical galleries are well placed to provide.
At times the conversation is challenging. That’s something my artists and I are unafraid of.
‘People are interested in King’s Leap because of the new conversations my artists are trying to stimulate,’ says Alec Petty, who opened the Lower East Side gallery in 2017. ‘Sometimes those conversations line up with the desire of collectors; other times it’s more challenging. That’s something my artists and I are unafraid of and I take pride in that.’
Petty cites the exhibition ‘Ever’ by Nandi Loaf in the fall of 2024 as an example of a particularly ambitious show that required a great deal of hands-on education. Nandi Loaf, according to her CV on the gallery’s website, uses ‘hyperparticipation’ to ‘investigate the existential state of the artist’, in effect needing an audience to physically realize the work. ‘Nandi’s work is performative in nature,’ says Petty. ‘But the performative elements involve instructing me, the audience and – theoretically –collectors, to take part in the work, in this case actually fabricating boutique, minimalist objects.’
In Focus, Petty is showing works by painter Audrey Gair while simultaneously opening a solo show of her work at King’s Leap. Doubling down in this way is not just about more exposure to more people, but providing the space and time for collectors to really understand Gair’s deeply involved, process-oriented practice. ‘This isn’t just going to be a booth of pretty paintings,’ says Petty. ‘I want to bring something really thought-provoking.’
To properly get to grips with the challenging work of emerging artists, as opposed to a household, often requires a willingness to encounter, to engage and to learn. This is why investigating the work in person, whether in gallery spaces or forums like Focus, remains so vital for these galleries, who are determined that the best way to survive is to champion artists who want to confront, challenge and even confuse their audience. For these Lower East Side galleries, at least, one thing is clear: in today’s market, playing it safe is too big a risk – not only financially but for the soul of the profession.
In Focus at Frieze New York 2025, Company Gallery and Champ Lacombe are presenting Stefania Batoeva (Stand F8); King’s Leap is presenting Audrey Gair (Stand F2); and Management is presenting Tahir Carl Karmali (Stand F3).
As the Official Partner of Focus, Stone Island offers each participating gallery a bursary alongside Frieze’s subsidy.
Further Information
Frieze New York, The Shed, 7 – 11 May, 2025. Tickets are on sale – don’t miss out, buy yours now. Alternatively, become a member to enjoy premier access, exclusive guided tours and more.
Frieze New York is supported by global lead partner Deutsche Bank, continuing its legacy of celebrating artistic excellence on an international scale.
A dedicated online Frieze Viewing Room will open in the week before the fair, offering audiences a first look at the presentations and the opportunity to engage with the fair remotely.
Main image: Stefania Batoeva, The end game (detail), 2024. Oil on canvas, 190 x 140 cm. Courtesy: the artist and Company Gallery, New York
