{"id":6665,"date":"2025-07-13T12:40:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T12:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/6665\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T12:40:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T12:40:08","slug":"is-the-summer-group-show-dead-or-are-galleries-are-getting-smarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/6665\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Summer Group Show Dead or are Galleries Are Getting Smarter?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEvery year, like cicadas and Europeans, the art world disappears in August. But before that, New York galleries traditionally stage a group show\u2014usually modest, often thematic, and occasionally, miraculously good. In recent years, though, dealers and critics have lamented that these shows feel timid, incoherent, or like thinly veiled attempts to offload unsold inventory. Some\u00a0have wondered<\/a>\u00a0if the group show is fated to die out altogether.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut in talking to dealers and advisers, it seems less like the once-ubiquitous summer group show is not quite disappearing. Instead, galleries have simply become more clear-eyed about the true purpose of these shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Articles<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Daniel<\/p>\n

\n\tMost summer shows don\u2019t intend to remake the canon. What most of them do\u2014quietly, imperfectly\u2014is help galleries maintain visibility during a slow season, offer trial balloons for emerging artists, and foster the kind of mid-tier networking that powers the art world when its bigger machines are idle. At their best, these shows let you see work in a way it hasn\u2019t been seen before. And even in its diminished state, the summer group show remains a vital site for soft power: relationship-building, artistic development, and subtle market testing.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor\u00a0Alex Glauber, president of the Association of Professional Art Advisors, group shows tend to fall into two buckets. The typical summer group show is \u201ceither a thoughtful curatorial endeavor that\u2019s meant to advance a conversation, or it\u2019s a show built for relationships\u2014a way to keep artists close and collectors engaged,\u201d Glauber, who has curated group shows at Lisson, Andrew Kreps, and Casey Kaplan, told\u00a0ARTnews.<\/p>\n

\n\tBoth approaches have their merits, he said, but the challenge lies in execution. Group shows, which typically involve artists from other galleries, get expensive once you factor in shipping and installation, and that galleries often earn less when consignment splits are involved with partner dealers. Those same splits can also make it harder to secure top works, as some dealers prefer to hold back pieces they\u2019d rather sell outright than share.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe margins get tight, and everyone\u2019s getting less,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s what makes it all the more striking when a gallery embraces the format not just out of obligation, but with real intent\u2014and even a sense of play.\u00a0Adam Cohen, founder of Chelsea gallery A Hug from the Art World, opened his first summer group show this year with a premise that manages to poke fun at art-world solemnity, while still taking the job seriously.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tInstall shot of \u201cOpen Eyes\u201d at A Hug from the Art World.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJENNY GORMAN<\/p>\n

\n\tTitled \u201cOpen Eyes,\u201d the show was organized by 14-year-old Luke Newsom (son of painter John Newsom), who approached Cohen with a pitch\u2014and a surprisingly strong checklist. \u201cWhen I was 14, I never would have had the gumption to even propose something like this,\u201d Cohen told\u00a0ARTnews. \u201cHe had a vision, and I wanted to honor that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, this wasn\u2019t just a novelty act. The show, which includes work by KAWS, Urs Fischer, and Raymond Pettibon holds its own. \u201cThere\u2019s an inherent lightness to it, but that doesn\u2019t mean it lacks rigor,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cIf you\u2019re thoughtful, you can do both. The fun of summer doesn\u2019t have to come at the expense of substance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat really makes Newsom\u2019s show work, Cohen added, is that it acts as a relationship-builder. \u201cGroup shows are connective,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re how you start conversations with artists, with collectors. That matters more than whether everything sells.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNearly every dealer interviewed for this piece echoed that quality as the hallmark of a great summer show. Success for such shows is rarely measured strictly in sales, but rather in visibility, and the opportunities down the line\u2014like future institutional placements\u2014that result.<\/p>\n

\n\tA blend of ambition and openness also characterizes \u201cSummer Reads,\u201d a group exhibition at Galerie Lelong<\/a> organized by assistant director Grace Hong. The show centers on the act of reading\u2014literal, visual, metaphorical\u2014and includes standout works by Martha Rosler and John Clang. (Works from Clang\u2019s ongoing series \u201cReading by an Artist,\u201d in which he uses ancient Chinese metaphysical systems to craft live portraits of participants in the gallery, were recently presented at the Sharjah Biennial; those pieces are now making their New York debut here.)<\/p>\n

\n\tMary Sabbatino, director of Lelong\u2019s New York space, told\u00a0ARTnews\u00a0that she views group shows as vehicles for opening institutional and professional doors\u2014for artists, yes, but also for younger galleries. She pointed to the gallery\u2019s 2022 exhibition \u201cOpen Doors,\u201d a collaboration with Welancora Gallery and Luis De Jesus Los Angeles. Welancora went on to do Frieze LA for the first time the following year.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGroup shows are a place to take chances,\u201d Sabbatino said. \u201cIf you\u2019re not using them to open the field a bit, why bother?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor the gallery Timothy Taylor<\/a>, the summer show is a strategic release valve from the pressures of selling. Its current exhibition, \u201cThe Kids Are Alright,\u201d brings together more than 40 artists exploring the real and imagined lives of children. The show, organized by Helen Toomer, features artists ranging from Ruby Sky Stiler and Gordon Parks to Dominic Chambers and Cecily Brown, but the goal wasn\u2019t just breadth.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt would be easy to sit on our hands and say we know who we are,\u201d partner\u00a0Chloe Waddington\u00a0told\u00a0ARTnews. \u201cBut the summer gives us space to loosen up, invite different voices in, and reach people who might not otherwise walk through the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe gallery plans such group shows six to eight months in advance, she said, allowing enough time to secure strong works, manage shipping costs, and think through tone and concept. That lead time also helps balance the books.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile group shows can be expensive\u2014especially with multiple loans and far-flung consignments\u2014Waddington emphasized that they don\u2019t have to be budget-busters. There are typically no dinners and no champagne towers. The gallery\u2019s big opening gesture this year? An ice cream truck.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s not about spectacle,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about building relationships. We met advisers and collectors this summer who\u2019d never been in the gallery before. That\u2019s a win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd while not everything in the show was for sale, according to Waddington, quite a bit did sell\u2014proof, perhaps, that playfulness and profitability aren\u2019t mutually exclusive.<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, as has become apparent over the last several years, there are more than a few galleries who sit the summer out. Among those skipping the summer: Bortolami, David Kordansky, Andrew Kreps, Pace, and Alexander Gray.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe haven\u2019t done a group show in three years,\u201d\u00a0Fionna Flaherty, a partner at Lehmann Maupin<\/a>, told\u00a0ARTnews. \u201cThere was a time when you couldn\u2019t walk through Chelsea in July without tripping over a group show. But just because it\u2019s tradition doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s useful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe gallery didn\u2019t opt out of the summer season entirely. At its New York location, Lehmann Maupin is presenting two solo exhibitions\u2014by Arcmanoro Niles and Tammy Nguyen\u2014which Faherty described as part of a broader plan to support artists ahead of institutional milestones or shifts in market attention.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo is the summer group show dead? Not quite. Faherty said she isn\u2019t against that format\u2014she\u2019s just skeptical of inertia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf we ever do one again, we\u2019ll want it to have a real purpose. Otherwise it just becomes filler,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every year, like cicadas and Europeans, the art world disappears in August. But before that, New York galleries…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88,7100,7101,7102],"class_list":{"0":"post-6665","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-galerie-lelong","14":"tag-lehmann-maupin","15":"tag-timothy-taylor"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}