Paula Cooper Gallery said that art dealer Simone Subal is joining its team as a senior director in New York, starting August 26.

The news comes two months after the Simone Subal Gallery on the Lower East Side closed its doors following a 12-year-run. Its demise is part of a broader shakeout in the gallery sector, with at least 12 galleries shuttering in New York in the past year as sales slowed amid an art market contraction. Several former gallery owners ended up joining larger dealerships, including JTT’s Jasmin Tsou going to Lisson and Tif Sigfrids to Canada gallery.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be rejoining Paula Cooper Gallery,” Subal said in a statement. “Paula was the reason why I moved to New York in 2000 and I was lucky enough to stay close to the gallery and the team once I left. Paula’s grace and integrity, as well as the gallery’s commitment to always putting artists first, have been a true inspiration for me.”

Founded in 2011, Simone Subal Gallery presented cutting-edge art with elegance and championed European artists like Anna K.E., Julien Bismuth, and Florian Meisenberg. She gave two early solo shows to Emily Mae Smith, whose auction prices skyrocketed to $1.6 million during the pandemic; the artist later left for the more established Petzel gallery.

Installation view, “Anna K.E. and Daniel Sinsel,” Condo New York: Simone Subal Gallery hosting Sadie Coles HQ, London. 2018 © artists, courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London and Simone Subal Gallery, New York

Subal placed many artists in institutional collections, including those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

“It’s an excellent fit,” said art advisor Wendy Cromwell about Subal’s move to Paula Cooper, a legendary gallery known for its focus on conceptual and Minimal art. “She is universally well liked and well respected. She is very curatorial. Her program was successful in terms of museum focus.”

Joining Paula Cooper Gallery marks a homecoming for Subal, 49. Born and raised in Vienna, she had an internship at Paula Cooper in 1999, and worked there from 2000 until 2003, when she left to pursue a master’s degree at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College.

Back in New York in 2005, Subal got a job at Peter Blum Gallery, where she helped open its Chelsea location, and worked as a director until 2010. After opening her own space on the Bowery, Subal quickly became a key voice for emerging artists and intergenerational dialogues.

In 2017, Subal helped bring Condo, a large-scale collaborative exhibition of international galleries, to New York from London, where it had been founded by Vanessa Carlos.

Gallerist Simone Subal explaining the work of Sonia Almeida at The Approach, London. As part of Condo 2017. Photo Lorena Muñoz-Alonso.

“We are extremely happy to have Simone rejoin us after a period of great accomplishments in the intervening years,” Cooper said. “Her knowledge, effectiveness, devotion, and total commitment to artists complement and enhance the gallery’s vision and goals.”

Subal arrives at a time of change at the gallery, as its 86-year-old founder has laid the groundwork for a younger generation of four partners to carry on her legacy. Three years ago, Lucas Cooper, the dealer’s son who has worked at the gallery since 2013, became managing partner. Steve Henry, the gallery’s director since 1998, was named senior partner. Anthony Allen and Alexis Johnson were made partners. 

Subal is not the only former employee to return to Paula Cooper. Johnson, who was on staff from 2010 to 2016, came back in 2021 after five years at Lévy Gorvy.

Paula Cooper Gallery played an important role in Subal’s personal life. She met her husband, art historian Alexander Dumbadze, at the gallery’s 2002 exhibition of Christian Marclay. As it happens, her return coincides with another Marclay exhibition, “Subtitled,” opening on September 12 in Chelsea.

“It was meant to be,” said Cooper.