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The Trouble with Mega Galleries

A little over a decade ago, art critic Jerry Saltz penned an article on the . His main complaint was that the quality of art created by mid-career artists declined after signing with them. The vast gallery spaces and expansive budgets, Saltz surmised, were too much for the artists to handle.

In retrospect, Saltz’s criticism in 2013 seems to have accurately called the top on the secondary market performance of a number of hyped artists who struggled to keep up to their new mega-expectations. The prime example here is the case of Dan Colen. Once branded as a “bad boy” pop artist, he reached his auction peak in 2014 with an oil on canvas painting from 2006 entitled Boo Fuck’n Hoo that sold for just over $3,000,000. His canvases now regularly sell for well under $50,000. A similarly structured narrative could be told of Richard Phillips, or Adel Abdessemed, whose markets peaked in the first half of the 2010s.

Dan Colen, Boo Fuck'n Hoo, 2006. Oil on canvas. Photo: Christie’s

In this regard, Saltz’s criticism seems to have anticipated, or perhaps even created, the market collapse of some of last decade’s artists who landed representation with the mega galleries. Nevertheless, while the fortunes of some of the artists on their rosters may have turned over the past decade, Gagosian, David Zwirner, Pace Gallery, and Hauser & Wirth are more dominant than ever, and have rapidly evolved to take an expanded leadership role in the art ecosystem.

Freedom to Exhibit

Saltz’s hypothesis that these mega galleries had likely reached their apotheosis a decade ago was based on the idea that they essentially stifled the creative vision of artists. In putting forward that idea, Saltz drew from a longstanding trope about the conformism of corporate culture. After all, how could the most creative art dovetail with the commercial pursuits of these galleries, when one of art’s core functions is to establish critical distance from which to perceive the commercial culture in which it is produced?

Well, a climate of ideological adherence has saturated publicly funded art institutions to a greater degree than their private counterparts, and that has resulted in an unlikely new advantage in favor of the mega galleries: freedom of exhibition.

In recent years, the mega galleries have proven themselves willing and able to put on shows that would otherwise seem unimaginable in a museum context due to their controversial nature. In from last year on how these galleries are now finding success in areas once reserved for the museums, art critic Sebastian Smee has pointed out that recent exhibitions by William Christenberry,  RaMell Ross, Philip Guston, and Diane Arbus were all made possible through the daringness of the biggest commercial players.

Philip Guston, Exhibition View of Philip Guston 1969-1979, Hauser & Wirth, 2021. Photo: Hauser & Wirth

Philip Guston Now, an exhibition initially scheduled to debut at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC in June 2020, was planned to embark on a journey that included stops at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and London's Tate Modern, before concluding its tour at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston in the fall of 2021. Then, at the last minute, the American museums decided to postpone the exhibition due to concerns around how the public may react to Guston’s depiction of cartoonish hooded figures who resemble Klansmen. That Guston was a committed anti-racist who explicitly opposed the KKK throughout his lifetime, and used the figures to pose questions about the banality of evil that may lie dormant in American society, was not enough to prevent the curators’ hesitation. 

As the museums ultimately spent years waffling, consulting and reorganizing the exhibition, Hauser & Wirth blazed forward with a bold show titled , on exactly the period of Guston’s career that has been intended for these public institutions.

William Christenberry & RaMell Ross, Exhibition View of Desire Paths, Pace Gallery New York, 2023. Photo: Pace Gallery

In 2023, Pace Gallery put on a two-person exhibition called Desire Paths which used KKK imagery in its interrogation of the history of racism in Hale Country, Alabama. The juxtaposition of works by the late William Christenberry and the living RaMell Ross received glowing reviews, but given its sensitive subject matter, the exhibition likely would not have been welcomed in a museum setting. Only a mega gallery was able to make the show a reality. The same can be said for David Zwirner’s 2022 . The show brought together the 133 famous photographs of grotesque outsiders that appeared in the original MoMA exhibition. Today, it likely would have fallen far beyond of the MoMA’s curatorial purview.

Open Doors

In fairness to museums, the mega galleries are able to move forward with their curatorial visions without having to consult with donors, special interest groups, or appease the public at large. That said, the independence of these galleries and the fact that they aren’t technically accountable to the public or its political institutions have not prevented them from ironically becoming more financially welcoming than the public institutions.

Diane Arbus, Tattooed man at a carnival, Md., 1970. Gelatin silver print. Photo: David Zwirner

For instance, a museum ticket in New York City costs around $25. Entrance to the commercial galleries is entirely free, despite the quality of the art being comparable. Gone are the days when galleries were elitist and closed off from art lovers of all class positions. In 2024, inclusion and education are key facets of the mega galleries’ missions, and they actively encourage visitors to attend their exhibitions. If the constant lineups outside of Yayoi Kusama’s 2023 exhibition at David Zwirner, I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers, are any indication, the public seems to be responding favorably, at least if an infinity Mirror Room is present.

Yayoi kusama, Exhibition View of I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers, David Zwirner, 2023. Photo: David Zwirner

Documentation and Education

It’s not only the physical gallery spaces that have become more welcoming to the public as the mega-galleries have risen in influence, but their online presence as well. These big four galleries are responsible for a tremendous ancillary cultural output to support their artists that rivals what many of the world’s best museums have to offer.

To begin with, Pace Live is a mediatheque portal with over 100 high-quality videos documenting live events such as performances and artist conversations. The video section of Gagosian Quarterly features similar content with prominent artists like David Adjaye, Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Jenny Saville. Whether behind the scenes looks at works in progress, video art, or artist interviews, the videos are immaculately produced and have a high degree of documentary and educational value over and above promoting the careers of the featured artists.

Cheryl Johnson-Odim, in your eyes, Poetry Performance on Video in Ursula, 2024. Screenshot of Hauser & Wirth Website

When it comes to the written word, Hauser & Wirth’s art magazine Ursula features essays and contemporary art and cinema, as well as poetry and photography. Pieces in the current issue include an essay on the life and work of recently deceased experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger (1927-2023) and a poetry performance by Cheryl Johnson-Odim. Neither individual is represented by Hauser & Wirth

Additionally, David Zwirner is known for its regular podcast, Dialogues, as well as its publishing wing, David Zwirner Books which includes everything from coffee table books of Gerhard Richter to an intellectually important essay collection by Larry Neal.

With audiovisual resources of educational and cultural merit supplementing their star-studded shows which are free to the public, the mega galleries continue to carve out an ever-more important historical role for themselves that goes beyond the bottom line of their commercial enterprise. If their growing rosters of artists and acquisitions of smaller galleries is any indication, these activities all make for good business as well.

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