On Friday, the veteran New York gallery Mitchell-Innes and Nash said that has closed its brick-and-mortar space in Chelsea after 28 years in business. It hosted over 200 shows by artists such as Pope L., Keltie Ferris, Norbert Schwontkowski, and Jacolby Satterwhite. The news comes amid a rash of gallery closures, though the the firm’s founders, Lucy Mitchell-Innes and David Nash, said that they will be transitioning into “a project-based advisory space.”
“Moving forward we will be working within a new paradigm,” the founders said in their statement, “consulting with select primary market artists and estates, providing art advisory services to individual collectors and foundations, and representing artworks on the primary and secondary markets.”
Mitchell-Innes and Nash will spend the summer making the transition and announce a new Manhattan location in “the coming months,” they said in their letter. Their space at 534 West 26th Street closed its doors on June 15, with a solo exhibition of paintings by Joanne Greenbaum as its swan song.
“My heart goes out to Lucy, David, Robert, all staff and all the artists in the gallery,” one of their artists, Annette Lemieux, wrote in an Instagram comment. “A tremendous loss, a gallery that I loved working with, and hoping in some way, we can all work together in the future. Lots of love.”
Mitchell-Innes and Nash’s shift comes at a time when many galleries, both established and emerging, have been struggling, with a downturn in the art market and a spike in the costs of running a business.
“We also sincerely thank our gallery team who together made countless exhibitions and art fairs possible,” their statement concluded. “Thanks also to our collectors and global curators who feel as passionate about our artists as we do. We have loved running our Chelsea space and welcoming in visitors from around the world. It has made this journey all the more meaningful.”