Editor’s Note: This story is part of Newsmakers, a new ARTnews series where we interview the movers and shakers who are making change in the art world.
A few days before Art Basel Paris was set to open last month, Paris-based Fitzpatrick Gallery sent out an email to its subscribers titled “The Next Chapter.” In it, founder Robbie Fitzpatrick announced that the forthcoming Hannah Weinberger exhibition, “Someday You’ll Join Us,” would, in fact, be the final one at the gallery’s physical space in the Marais neighborhood of the French capital.
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That exhibition saw the gallery space completely empty, with almost all the lights turned off. It looked closed, though the door was unlocked for the show’s run, October 12 to October 26. Upon entering, you could hear a woman, Weinberger, singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” in an eerie a capella. The finality of the exhibition was palpable.
Moving forward, Fitzpatrick Gallery will operate as “a nomadic program of site-specific exhibitions in unique locations, in some of my favourite cities across the globe.” He continued, “We live in a world that has become increasingly gripped by consuming all that surrounds us, in an accelerated, frenzied pace, and over the past decade I’ve witnessed the art world follow the same course. I hope this new proposition provides an opportunity for an alternative—a model that emphasises experience over consumption.”
Fitzpatrick started his gallery in Los Angeles in 2013 as Freedman Fitzpatrick with Alex Freedman, who was also one of his cofounders for the short-lived alternative LA art fair, Paramount Ranch. The gallery opened its Paris outpost in 2018. When Freedman stepped away from the gallery, Fitzpatrick paused his gallery’s programming just a few months before the pandemic, reopening at his most recent Paris location in 2020. In 2022, with Weinberger, he cofounded the acclaimed anti-fair Basel Social Club, which the two plan to continue. Under this new gallery model, Fitzpatrick will remain based in Paris and mount exhibitions at unconventional venues in Paris and around the world.
To learn more about his decision to go nomadic, his travails from LA to Paris, and what the state of the market means for galleries like his, ARTnews spoke with Fitzpatrick by phone.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and concision.
ARTnews: Can you tell us a little bit about the history of your gallery, which you started over a decade ago?
Robbie Fitzpatrick: The origins of the gallery started in Los Angeles, and the original name of the gallery was Freedman Fitzpatrick. Together with my former business partner, Alex Freedman, we decided to open in LA. We had first met in Berlin, where we were both living at the time. I was working as the director of Tanya Leighton Gallery, and Alex was a freelance curator and critic. We had curated some shows together, and early on in our friendship, we decided that we would embark on a gallery venture. She grew up in LA and proposed that we open there. We found an eccentric little spot in a strip mall on Hollywood Boulevard. In the early days of our program, we were showing primarily European artists, artists who we knew from our time in Berlin. For the most part, they were the debut shows for these artists, or at least their first shows the United States. We started the program with a sort of pioneer spirit of bringing artists from Europe, and we slowly cultivated this community of artists who relocated to LA.
Within the first year of running the gallery, we also decided to start an alternative art fair called Paramount Ranch, which we did with two local artists, Pentti Monkkonen and Liz Craft. That ran for three years. In the same vein as the gallery, the spirit of Paramount Ranch was also pioneering in that we invited a lot of galleries from outside of LA, from Europe, from Asia, to take over this former film set. It was an Old West town where Paramount Pictures shot all their cowboy westerns.
How would you characterize the art market in LA, when you opened up there more than a decade ago, before LA had the market presence it enjoys now?
When we opened the gallery in 2013, there was a whole generation of young galleries that were popping up in LA. Chateau Shatto opened later that year. Jenny’s opened a year later. There was Paul Soto with his apartment gallery, Park View. There was this really raw energy. It felt like with every month, there was a new wave of people moving to LA. It was at a time in which LA was a lot more affordable than now. It felt like there could be a little bit more experimentation. There certainly wasn’t the same kind of flood of galleries that you do have now. It also felt like collectors had the attention span or bandwidth to go and see all the shows of these young, up-and-coming galleries. There was a collector base that was really supporting the community there, so we did thrive. It allowed us to more easily, get into some of the bigger name art fairs; within the first year of having the gallery, we were in Art Basel Miami Beach and Liste Art Fair in Basel.
There was less competition in the LA gallery scene.
How did you end up in Paris?
After running a gallery in LA for five years, we decided to open a second branch in Paris due to our strong European audience. In 2019, my business partner left, prompting me to close both locations. During the pandemic, I rebranded the gallery with my name and reopened in September 2021. I also considered a nomadic program for the gallery.
You opened in Paris in 2018 as the city was experiencing a market revival post-Brexit.
The art market has changed significantly since starting in LA in 2013. Collectors now seem overwhelmed by the volume of art available, making it challenging to engage with them.
I decided to change how I present exhibitions to create a unique experience for my audience, as seen in a successful show with Cédric Rivrain in Los Angeles earlier this year. People discussed it in passing, heard about it, and decided to embark on the adventurous journey up the winding road of the Hollywood Hills to witness it firsthand, all because of the unique experience it offered. It was unlike viewing art in a traditional gallery setting. This realization led me to understand that this was the direction I wanted to take in presenting my artists‘ work. It was personally fulfilling for me. Initially, Cédric was hesitant, but he later acknowledged that if the same exhibit had been held in the Paris gallery, it wouldn’t have had the same impact, even just from the documentation, as it did in the space we used for the show. This was a moment of revelation for me, suggesting that this type of gallery program could have a lasting impact.
Moving forward, the plan is to host exhibitions in these unique spaces rather than renting out a space that resembles a typical gallery. None of the shows will be in spaces that resemble conventional galleries. I am intrigued by the idea of utilizing historic or architecturally unique empty spaces. This excites me, and the artists I collaborate with are equally thrilled about showcasing their work in such environments.
The closing show featuring Hannah Weinberger was chosen as a farewell to the Paris exhibition. Hannah is a Swiss artist known for her sound and video installations that provide immersive experiences best appreciated in person. She was among the original artists of the LA gallery program and played a significant role in the rebranding of the gallery in 2020. The decision to have her sing „Imagine“ in an hour-long loop as part of the exhibition was a minimal gesture with a powerful impact. We believed it was self-explanatory and allowed for multiple interpretations.
In a conservative art world obsessed with categorization, this moment of multiple crises offers a chance to reimagine existing models. The Basel Social Club, which is not an art fair, is a prime example of challenging traditional norms. The exhibition also serves as a reminder of ongoing global conflicts and the need to address them in a subtle yet meaningful way.
The art market’s current state has had a significant impact on galleries like ours representing emerging and mid-career artists open to experimentation. The surge in online art buying during lockdown has led to collector burnout and buyer’s remorse, with many regretting impulse purchases made during that time. Es gab keinen Weg für diese Gemeinschaft von Sammlern, gemeinsam mit demselben Tempo wie vor einigen Jahren weiter einzukaufen. Wörtlich gesagt waren ihre Lager voll ausgelastet. Mit der Inflation haben sich die Kosten für Versand, Lagerung und alles andere summiert. Das hat sicherlich Galerien beeinflusst, aber ich denke, dass dies auch ein entscheidender Faktor für das Sammelverhalten war: „Möchte ich so viel Geld ausgeben, um dieses Werk zu versenden?“ Es gibt viele zusätzliche Kosten, die mit dem Kauf eines Kunstwerks verbunden sind, die auch bei jedem Kauf genauer betrachtet werden.
Und dann habe ich das Gefühl, dass bestimmte Trends intensiv von den Medien diskutiert wurden. Natürlich war die Figuration eine Zeit lang ein heißes Thema, und dann gab es sozusagen eine Reaktion darauf, mit dem Argument, dass die Abstraktion gerade im Trend liegt. In den letzten Jahren seit Covid hatte ich das Gefühl, dass viele Sammler einfach nicht wussten, auf welchen Trend sie aufspringen sollten, oder ihre eigenen Vorlieben oder Interessen hinterfragten. Vielleicht findet ein wenig Seelenforschung statt, und vielleicht ist das eine gute Sache. Ich habe auf jeden Fall das Gefühl, dass Sammler aus den oben genannten Gründen viel vorsichtiger sind, aber sie müssen auch wissen, dass sie fest an das Werk glauben. Jeder Verkauf dauert jetzt etwas länger. Wir müssen mehr Informationen bereitstellen. Die Dinge fliegen nicht mehr einfach von den Wänden wie vor einigen Jahren. Sie möchten das Gefühl haben, dass ihr Geld gut angelegt ist, und sind zu 100 Prozent überzeugt, das Werk zu kaufen.
Ist da noch etwas, das Sie hinzufügen möchten?
Einer der Faktoren, die zu dieser Entscheidung beigetragen haben, besteht sicherlich darin, die Starrheit des Galeriemodells und einige der Einschränkungen zu bewerten, die ich empfand, dass es mir auferlegte. Es erfordert, dass Sie das Programm in einem Raum durchführen. Ich denke, dass dies zu einem allgemeinen Burnout-Syndrom beiträgt. Ich sehe es nicht nur bei Sammlern. Ich sehe es sicherlich auch bei meinen Galeriekollegen. Ich persönlich fühle mich auch so. Ein Teil davon ist, dass Sie einfach keine Pause machen können. Sie müssen die ganze Zeit programmieren und nicht jede Ausstellung verkauft sich gut, aber Sie müssen immer noch Arbeit produzieren oder versenden. Das ist einer der Gründe, warum ich das Gefühl habe, dass ich mich vom Modell befreien möchte. Es fühlte sich fast so an, als würde die Galerie mich kontrollieren, anstatt dass ich die Kontrolle über die Entwicklung des Programms habe.