Panel on Chicago Galleries

Art Chicago Speaks
1960 to the Present:
The History of Chicago Galleries
Sponsored by the Art Dealers Association of Chicago

Moderated by Natalie van Straaten
Panelists included:
Richard Gray, Richard Gray Gallery www.richardgraygallery.com
Catherine Edelman, Catherine Edelman Gallery www.edelmangallery.com
Carrie Secrist, Carrie Secrist Gallery www.secristgallery.com
David Klamen (artist) represented by Richard Gray Gallery www.richardgraygallery.com


This panel gave an overview of the gallery scene in Chicago and the panelists talked honestly and openly about their experiences. According to Richard Gray when he decided to open his own gallery on East Ontario in the 1950s, there existed a very small gallery scene. Galleries at that time could be “counted on one-and-a-half hands” and were centered on Michigan Avenue and Ontario. Chicago now has a scene that is well respected and thriving. Some highlights of the panel are listed below:

• All three dealers began their careers as artists and in some ways fell into their current role.
  
• In response to the question of their role locally, they all believe that to survive in the art market they should be engaged with the art world in a more expansive and global manner as part of a larger community. As Gray said, he “never believed that the art world was local.” It required a “much more universal you.”
• 75% of both Gray and Edelman’s sales were from out-of-state collectors; Edelman said that with the exception of New York, she found that sales for dealers in other states was also from 75% out-of-state purchases. Klamen said that he sells most of his work to collectors elsewhere.
  
• The panelists agreed that for collectors there is a cache to purchasing work in New York, even if they may buy work for cheaper elsewhere.
• The internet is the future for galleries—Edelman said that 90% of her sales are driven by it.
• Everyone agreed that in Chicago there is a unique collegiality amongst gallery owners that does not exist elsewhere. Secrist said that galleries in Chicago do not compete for artists.
• Gray, Edelman, and Secrist agreed that there is no collegiality between art institutions and local dealers. Very rarely do curators or directors sit down with local gallerists to look for artists or works or visit their galleries.
• On the topic of art fairs, Secrist said that they are a “terrific opportunity to travel the world, a one-stop-shopping experience”…but that they are affecting artists by taking attention and time away from exhibition and project development. She also expressed a concern that auction houses were taking over the functions that art fairs had absorbed and that “more and more [the art world] is about commerce.” Klamen said that art fairs may “make artists feel minuscule in comparison to the world art scene” but they are a remarkable venue to see work from around the world.
• Another topic broached was the lack of local press for art venues. Secrist said that the Chicago Tribune told her that if she advertised more that her exhibitions would be reviewed more. She said that this is a problem with national and international publications also—“if you pay for things, you get them.”
• Edelman said that galleries are businesses. The possibility of the upcoming recession will negatively affect her business but she, like many other gallery owners, will survive because they have been through periods of economic downturn before and know how to weather these changes