Last week, dealer Tim Blum told ARTnews that he was closing up shop in search of a new model for art dealing. “Everybody talks about wanting to step off,” Blum said. “But nothing ever really changes.”
But Blum isn’t the only one getting out of the gallery business.
On Wednesday, collector-turned-dealer Adam Lindemann said that he would be closing Venus Over Manhattan, the New York gallery he founded 14 years ago. Going forward, he will stick to the buyer side of the dealer-collector relationship. The gallery’s current exhibition, a solo show for painter Susumu Kamijo, will be its last, scheduled to be on view until July 18.
Lindemann revealed the news in a somewhat self-congratulatory opinion piece, published by Artnet News, that details the author’s and the gallery’s history. His earlier writings—a 2006 book on collecting and a four-year stint as a columnist for the New York Observer—garnered him art world attention, but “soon after my writing became popular, I quit,” he writes.
His collecting appetite for trophy art, including the purchase record-breaking works by Jeff Koons and Jean-Michael Basquiat, eventually led him to pivot to becoming an art dealer in 2012—against many of his friend’s advice.
“Opening a gallery as a collector really does succeed in alienating both sides,” Lindemann writes. “Dealers distrust you, and most collectors don’t get what you’re up to, so they turn up their noses in disapproval—or even worse, they resent you for switching sides.”
He launched the gallery, opting against putting his name on the door and instead calling it Venus Over Manhattan, a nod to the Wheeler Williams sculpture outside the gallery’s home at 980 Madison Avenue. Soon, the gallery turned into a magnet for both controversy and serious critical attention. The gallery became known for bringing new attention to artists like Jack Goldstein and H.C. Westermann, as well as solos for blue-chip artists like Peter Saul, Alexander Calder, and a pre-banana Maurizio Cattelan. A notable off-site exhibition came in the form of a guerrilla installation of William Copley in a Swiss chocolate shop.
In addition to the collector-dealer conundrum, Lindemann also added that the indignities of art fair politics were a factor in his decision. With a hint of gossip, he intones, “Do you want to know the truth about fair committees? They gleefully ask you to get down on your hands and knees, wag your tail, and beg for forgiveness.”
Now, Lindemann is bowing out. “I’ve seen it from both sides, and now it’s time to wave the white flag,” he writers. “There will be no pivot to consulting nor private dealing. I’m going back to air kisses, handshakes, fist bumps, side hugs, head nods, winks, waves, big smiles, thumbs up, and good vibes. .”
