While many galleries have been focusing efforts close to home during these uncertain times, Eden Gallery (formerly Eden Fine Art) has taken the opposite approach, going full steam ahead on expanding its already global network of locations.

During the past year, Eden opened a new Aspen outpost, adding to its existing presences in London, Mykonos, Miami, New York, Tel Aviv, as well as several other cities. 

Cathia Klimovsky, who founded the gallery in 1997, has spearheaded these expansions along with a coinciding gallery rebranding. It’s all part of her mission to cultivate artists who present “contemporary optimism and a colorful view of life.” This roster includes the likes of both Alec Monopoly and Eduardo Kobra, who are each represented by Eden Gallery. 

Recently, we caught up with Klimovsky, who shared her ambitions for the gallery moving ahead. 

You founded Eden in 1997, but I wonder, what lessons have you learned running the gallery in just the past two years?

The gallery was founded out of my passion for the arts; I enjoy bridging the gap between exceptional artists and collectors. The last year was very challenging with the pandemic, but it pushed us to continue to grow in every sense—our artists’ reputations, our beautiful gallery locations, robust digital presence, and effort from a fantastic team that I am proud of. Not only did we manage to keep all of our galleries open during this time, we even opened new ones, like in Aspen, for instance. 

I know the gallery has plans to expand to additional locations in the near future, including in Dubai and Las Vegas, among others. Can you tell us more about these plans? 

We are very excited to continue our international expansion! We want our gallery presence in these cities to be closer to our collectors, as well as to allow our artists to display their art around the world. We will be opening Dubai this winter, in a 10,000-square-foot space in the luxury area of Dubai Mall. Our Las Vegas space is also slated to open this year in the iconic Wynn Hotel shopping area. 

The gallery has recently undergone a rebranding—changing from Eden Fine Art to Eden Gallery, and bringing with it a new logo. Can you tell me why the gallery decided to rebrand and what it signals for the future?

Yes! We officially changed our name from Eden Fine Art to Eden Gallery. The drive behind the rebrand is to strengthen our image and better redefine our natural place in the art field. Our new logo and outfitting visually exemplify our dedication to the goal of offering collectors the highest level of excellence—both in terms of the artists that we represent and the art that we exhibit.

The talk of the town the past months has been all about NFTs. Do you have plans to work in the sphere of NFTs? Do you think they’re the future of the art world?

Absolutely. It is clear that NFTs will stay and live side by side with “classic” art and galleries as we know them today. We are convinced that NFTs will enter a  mature era more quickly than most expect—with artworks of higher and higher quality coming up. Our artist Gal Yosef is launching GalyVerse, a series of different collections powered by Eden Gallery in the near future. A unique NFT created by Yosef was already sold in October for $214,000 in cooperation with Sotheby’s and Steve Aoki.

Other artists that we represent will have their own proper NFT project launches. Stay tuned for more news on this.  

Two of your most popular artists are Eduardo Kobra and Alec Monopoly. What makes these artists so sought after? 

Alec Monopoly and Eduardo Kobra are among the most iconic artists that we exclusively represent, but it’s very tricky for us because we love all of our artist family. Some of our other artists with worldwide interest and recognition are Angelo Accardi, David Kracov and Gal Yosef. 

Popularity and quality can definitely go hand in hand with respect to the art world. Generally, however, we try to emphasize artists in the interest of our collectors. 

Though events are a bit up in the air right now, Eden Gallery is well known for hosting one-of-a-kind art events. What have you been up to lately? 

For Art Basel Week in Miami, Eden Gallery curated five solo events with the work of artists Metis Atash, Eduardo Kobra, Gal Yosef, and Alec Monopoly, and including live music, performances, and paintings. This February, we will be hosting an exclusive event for the official opening of the Dubai gallery space. 

If you could have dinner with any three art world figures from history, who would they be and why?

For me, there is only one: Picasso. He is the greatest master. No need to explain.