Damion Matthews
San Francisco now joins an elite group of international cities — London, Paris, Rome, Geneva, Athens, Hong Kong, New York and Beverly Hills — in becoming the 16th outpost for the Gagosian Gallery, which opened May 18th with a party attended by some of the Bay Area’s leading art collectors.
Founded over three decades ago by Larry Gagosian, the world’s most powerful art dealer, the opening of a San Francisco location shows how the Bay Area has finally become an important city in the international art world. It doesn’t hurt that the largest contemporary and modern art museum in the United States is directly across the street.
Larry Gagosian, with gallery director Anna Gavazzi Asseily, welcomed artists such as Ed Ruscha, Joe Bradley, Piero Golia, Alex Israel, Sterling Ruby, Jonas Wood, and guests including collectors Jan Koum, Wendi Murdoch, Vivek Ranadivé, Lisa Pritzker, Matt Paige and Katie Schwab Paige, Mike and Kaitlyn Krieger, Sako and Bill Fisher, and Randi and Bob Fisher, among others.
Guests were able to view the gallery’s first exhibit, “Plane.Site,” curated by Sam Orlofsky, which juxtaposes important three-dimensional pieces with the artists’ drawings related to the work. You will see, for instance Pablo Picasso’s bronze “Tete de femme,” of 1951, next to his “Portrait de Sylvette,” drawn with pencil on notebook paper, or Cy Twombly’s never before seen “Untitled, Lexington” (2009) made of wood, cardboard, and plastic strings, shown with a composition on handmade paper.
See inside the VIP party below!
Photos: Drew Altizer Photography