Gavlak Gallery to Open Los Angeles Outpost

Gallerist Sarah Gavlak has announced the opening of a second space in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Gavlak Gallery, which opened in West Palm Beach in 2005, represents artists including Scott Reeder, Orly Genger, and Whitney Biennial artists Lisa Anne Auerbach and Keith Mayerson. With the new space, 5,000 square feet at 1034 North Highland Avenue, Gavlak plans to stage bigger more ambitious shows by her artists.

The inaugural exhibition, opening June 26, will feature works by the artists listed above along with other gallery artists including Jose Alvarez, Betty Tompkins, T.J. Wilcox, and Lecia Dole-Recio, some of whom live and work in the area.

Gavlak was something of a pioneer when she opened her first gallery in West Palm Beach, introducing the local culture to a high-caliber roster of international artists the likes of which were not common to the area. She inaugurated her space with a solo show by Wade Guyton, one of the artist’s first one-man exhibitions in the US. The gallery also gave early shows of artists including Marilyn Minter and Aleksandra Mir. In 2008, Gavlak moved her gallery to posh Worth Avenue to a space owned by Warhol factory superstar Jane Holzer.

Though Gavlak’s move is in line with a larger trend of East Coast and international galleries moving to the West Coast (as well as galleries within Los Angeles moving to neighborhoods less historically associated with the arts, like Hollywood, Downtown, and South Mission Road), this isn’t Gavlak’s first foray on the West Coast. Prior to relocating to Florida, the Pittsburgh native had lived in Los Angeles where, since 1992, she had been part of the art scene working at various arts institutions including MOCA and converting her home in Silver Lake into a project space. With the opening of the new space, the bi-coastal gallerist intends to divide her time equally between both cities.

Why did Gavlak decided to open a space in Hollywood as opposed to Culver City or Downtown or another neighborhood in LA? “When I moved to LA in early 90s I lived in Hancock Park close the North Highland so I’ve always felt an affinity to the neighborhood and have a personal history with the area,” Gavlak told artnet News over email. “Also, I’ve loved seeing how the area has evolved, and now to be in the company of Hannah Hoffman and Shaun Regen, two women I respect in the business, is such a great opportunity.”


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