NEW YORK, NY.- The Art Dealers Association of America today welcomes eight new member galleries confirmed by the organization’s Board of Directors: Avery Galleries (New York and Bryn Mawr), Kavi Gupta (Chicago), David Kordansky Gallery (Los Angeles), Monique Meloche Gallery (Chicago), Carolina Nitsch (New York), Gallery Wendi Norris (San Francisco), Ricco/Maresca Gallery (New York), and Leon Tovar Gallery (New York). They join the nation’s leading nonprofit organization of fine art dealers, which comprises nearly 180 members from 30 cities in the U.S. and is a leader in upholding professional standards for the field and advancing scholarship and connoisseurship.

“The greatest strength of the Association is the depth and breadth of our members’ collective expertise, relationships, and advancement of scholarship,” said Andrew L. Schoelkopf, President of the ADAA. “Our new members for 2019 represent a dynamic range of specializations, artist rosters, and approaches to connoisseurship that expand and deepen the incredible contributions of our membership to the greater arts community.”

The eight new ADAA member galleries have established expertise across artistic periods, genres, and media and play a significant role in the arts and culture community, locally, nationally, and internationally. To ensure that new members share the ADAA’s commitment to integrity and professionalism, candidates participate in a year-long application process. In addition to nominations by existing ADAA members, candidates must demonstrate a record of accomplishment and major contributions to the art community, by offering works of high aesthetic quality, organizing major exhibitions, producing scholarly publications, and actively working with museums. They must additionally have been in business for at least five years. Following candidate interviews by a selection committee composed of ADAA member dealers, the committee determines eligibility and votes on nominees, with final approval by the Board of Directors and the entire membership.

New ADAA Member Galleries for 2019:

Avery Galleries
Specializing in American art from the late nineteenth century to the present day, Avery Galleries was founded in 2001 by Richard Rossello. With locations in both New York and Pennsylvania, the Gallery is committed to the preservation and presentation of museum-quality works by the artists of the Hudson River School, American Impressionism, early American modernism, and other important regional movements.

“We have long admired the mission of the ADAA and the high quality of its programming,” said Principal Richard Rossello. The membership has consistently focused on deepening the American public’s understanding and appreciation of the arts in new and exciting ways. We are hugely honored to join the ranks of those who have made it their calling to nurture art’s influence on American culture.”

Kavi Gupta
Kavi Gupta is a contemporary art gallery based in Chicago, with two gallery spaces dedicated to museum-quality exhibitions, as well as a publishing imprint, Kavi Gupta Editions, which produces artist books and editions. Kavi Gupta’s diverse, international program emphasizes contemporary artists from marginalized communities with complex, multifaceted practices, including Mickalene Thomas, Jeffrey Gibson, Glenn Kaino, Firelei Báez, Devan Shimoyama, and AFRICOBRA founders Gerald Williams, Jae Jarrell, and Wadsworth Jarrell.

“Being a member of ADAA is a great privilege for us,” said Gallery Founder and Owner Kavi Gupta. “To be invited to join means validation for the hard work and integrity of the artists we represent. It also offers the entire Kavi Gupta team a chance to be part of a dynamic community with a track record of positively affecting the visual arts field, and American culture at large.”

David Kordansky Gallery
David Kordansky Gallery opened in Los Angeles’s Chinatown in 2003 and in 2014 moved to its current location, a 20,000-square-foot space in Mid-City. The gallery represents and exhibits artists from around the world, exploring the dynamic cross-pollination of ideas taking place between Los Angeles and other global centers. Its exhibitions and projects bring together work in all media by artists both emerging and established, including Matthew Brannon, Sam Gilliam, Jennifer Guidi, Rashid Johnson, Tala Madani, and Jonas Wood. In 2020, the gallery is adding 7,000 square feet of indoor space, which will allow for three separate shows to be presented simultaneously, as well as a 2,300-square-foot courtyard for a diversity of programming, including performance, film, and outdoor sculpture.

“ADAA represents the best in art galleries: innovation, integrity, and teamwork,” said Gallery Founder and Owner David Kordansky. “We’re honored to be joining this esteemed community of leaders and advocates, collaborating with peers across the U.S. to advance our collective love of art.”

Monique Meloche Gallery
Monique Meloche founded her eponymous gallery in Chicago’s West Loop in 2001 following group exhibitions held in her home, the first entitled “Homewrecker.” The gallery now resides in the city’s West Town arts district, and represents a diverse roster of artists including Brendan Fernandes, Ebony G. Patterson, Nate Young, Sanford Biggers, and Maia Cruz Palileo.

Founder and Owner Monique Meloche said, “The ADAA has always been an organization to which my gallery has aspired, and I am delighted to be invited to join such an astute roster of fellow dealers. The professionalism and ethical standards the ADAA stands for are those that I pride my gallery on, and feel this recognition is a significant accomplishment for our program.”

Carolina Nitsch
Founded in 2000, Carolina Nitsch specializes in drawings and editions, including prints and monotypes, multiples, photographs, artist books, and installations. The gallery actively publishes editions with a growing roster of international artists, ranging from traditional etching on paper or silkscreen to large installations. The gallery operates two spaces, in New York’s SoHo and Chelsea districts, and represents the editioned works of artists such as Louise Bourgeois and Thomas Schütte.

“It is an honor, after 20 years in business, to be included among this distinguished group of dealers,” said Founder and Principal Carolina Nitsch. “We hope to contribute to the association by sharing our passion and expertise in editions and works on paper.”

Gallery Wendi Norris
Based in San Francisco, Gallery Wendi Norris represents international modern and contemporary artists working in a variety of media. With a commitment to rigor, relevance, and connoisseurship, the gallery strategically mounts international exhibitions to best support their artists’ careers. The gallery is known for its expertise in modern artists associated with Surrealism, including Leonora Carrington, Dorothea Tanning, Wolfgang Paalen, and Remedios Varo. Its contemporary artists, such as María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Chitra Ganesh, Ana Teresa Fernández, Julio César Morales, Ranu Mukherjee, Miguel Angel Ríos, Eva Schlegel and Peter Young, share a similar ethos to their modern predecessors, often realized through rich interdisciplinary practices.

Owner Wendi Norris said, “It is an honor to become a member of the Art Dealers Association of America in the company of such prestigious colleagues. I am also pleased that the ADAA has included Gallery Wendi Norris among the ranks of the top galleries in the world while embracing our non-traditional business model. Speaking for my entire team, I am profoundly grateful for this recognition and look forward to learning from other members and participating in future ADAA exhibitions and activities.”

Ricco/Maresca Gallery
Ricco/Maresca Gallery was founded in New York City’s SoHo district in 1979 and became one of the first galleries to move to the Chelsea art district in 1997. The gallery champions and showcases the art of self-taught masters who work outside the continuum of art history, specializing in the crossover of Outsider and Self-Taught art into the Modern and Contemporary arenas. Ricco/Maresca’s mission has always been to blur the lines that have customarily separated conventional art-historical categories and “marginal” art. The gallery manages the estates of such artists as William Hawkins and Martín Ramírez; produces seminal books with publishing partners including Alfred A. Knopf, Little Brown and Company, and Radius Books; and participates in numerous major art fairs.

Owner Frank Maresca said, “I have attended The Art Show since its inception, when I was a young gallerist. Today, 31 years later, I’m proud to be a member of an organization that I have admired for so long.”

Leon Tovar Gallery
First established almost three decades ago in Bogotá, Colombia, Leon Tovar Gallery has operated in New York City’s Upper East Side since 2002. Through exhibitions, programming, catalogue publication, and art fair participation, the gallery has underscored and promoted the indispensable place of Latin American artists within the history of Modernism. An authority in the field, the gallery provides counsel to new and experienced collectors, institutions, and museums, and currently represents Colombian painter Fanny Sanín, as well as the Estates of Carmelo Arden Quin, Martin Blaszko, Agustín Fernández, Edgar Negret, and Eduardo Ramirez Villamizar.

“To receive recognition from the ADAA is one of the highest honors of my career as a gallerist,” said Director Leon Tovar. “For nearly three decades, the gallery has been steadfast in its belief that art from Latin America is worthy of wider recognition, and that its artists should be included in the same discourses as their North American and European peers. We are honored not only to have earned admission into this prestigious organization, but also to witness further recognition of the increasing stature of Latin American art.”