Venus Over Manhattan, the New York gallery founded by collector Adam Lindemann in 2012, will close after its current exhibition concludes. The show, a solo presentation of works by painter Susumu Kamijo, is on view through July 18th.
In a personal article published on Artnet News, Lindemann announced the closure and reflected on the gallery’s trajectory. “I surrounded myself with a great young team who did a lot of the heavy lifting,” he wrote. “They have been a great part of the experience. I’ve seen it from both sides, and now it’s time to wave the white flag… veni, vidi, but not vici… I didn’t win. But Venus was never about winning.”
Lindemann, an avid art buyer whose collection included works such as Jeff Koons’s Hanging Heart (1994–2006) and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (Devil) (1982), made the decision to open a gallery in 2012 “Everyone told me not to, so of course I did,” he wrote.
Venus Over Manhattan first opened on the third floor of 980 Madison Avenue, just above Gagosian and near to Michael Werner Gallery and White Cube. Lindemann named the gallery after the Wheeler Williams sculpture that hangs on the building’s façade. The gallery opened a second location on Great Jones Street in 2022. The next year, it closed the Upper East Side location in favor of a second storefront on Great Jones Street.
Lindemann explained that his decision to close his gallery was influenced by a variety of factors. “Opening a gallery as a collector really does succeed in alienating both sides,” he wrote. “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.” In addition to the collector–dealer divide, Lindemann cited disillusionment with art fair politics as a contributing factor. “Do you want to know the truth about fair committees?” he wrote. “They gleefully ask you to get down on your hands and knees, wag your tail, and beg for forgiveness. Then, callously, they waitlist you in permanentia.”
In 2023, a selection of Lindemann’s collection went up for auction at Christie’s, including pieces by Alexander Calder and Andy Warhol. The sale fetched $31.46 million with fees.
Venus’s closure follows other recent announcements about shifts in gallery operations. Last week, Tim Blum announced the closure of the Los Angeles and Tokyo locations of his eponymous gallery after more than 30 years in business. Blum cited a need to move toward “a more flexible model” and described the current art business as unsustainable. In an interview with ArtNews, he called the gallery’s participation in Art Basel last month “a thunderclap.”
Unlike Blum, Lindemann concluded his stepping back from art dealing with finality: “There will be no pivot to consulting nor private dealing.” Instead, he wrote, “I’m going back to air kisses, handshakes, fist bumps, side hugs, head nods, winks, waves, big smiles, thumbs up, and good vibes.”
