LONDON.- Haunch of Venison London and Haunch of Venison New York announced that both galleries will move their respective locations. The London gallery will move back to its original location at Haunch of Venison Yard in September following an extensive renovation of the gallery while the New York gallery will move to 550 West 21st Street in Chelsea, leaving its current Rockefeller Center premises. Leading architect Annabelle Selldorf will redesign both spaces.
The New York gallery will move to a 6,000ft² ground floor space in the heart of the Chelsea gallery district in the autumn of 2011. Commenting on the move to the new downtown space in New York, Emilio Steinberger, International Director, Haunch of Venison New York, said: “This is an important new growth chapter for the gallery. We look forward to putting on an even broader and more exciting program of exhibitions to be presented to a larger public. The gallery will continue to work with the world’s leading art museums and public galleries as well as private collectors.” The New York gallery has developed a reputation for mounting distinguished historical survey shows such as Peter Saul: Fifty Years and Enrico Castellani curated by Adachiara Zevi. The gallery has also concentrated on unexplored territories from important historical moments, and exciting shows from emerging and midcareer artists.
The New York gallery will open to the public on September 23rd with an inaugural exhibition of new work by artists including Ahmed Alsoudani, Adrian Ghenie, Kevin Francis Gray, Jitish Kallat, Patricia Piccinini, Peter Saul, Eve Sussman, Günther Uecker and Joana Vasconcelos. Many of these artists will then have solo shows with the gallery in the next couple of years.
Since 2009 Haunch of Venison London has been temporarily housed at the Royal Academy of Arts, 6 Burlington Gardens. The gallery’s diverse exhibition program included exhibitions by Rina Banerjee Chiharu Shiota, Joana Vasconcelos, Tom Wesselmann, and Jitish Kallat in 2010, and by Richard Long, Giuseppe Penone, BarberOsgerby in 2011. The new renovations will increase the original space to 11,500 sq ft, allowing the gallery to mount ambitious, large-scale exhibitions as well as innovative projects.
The London gallery will celebrate its re-opening to the public on September 7, 2011 with an exhibition of new paintings by artist Adrian Ghenie. In October 2011, Haunch of Venison London will present the first solo show of Iraqi born artist Ahmed Alsoudani in the UK. The final show at 6 Burlington Gardens will be a major exhibition, Frank Stella: Connections. Matt Carey-Williams, International Director, Haunch of Venison London, said: “We are thrilled to be moving back to our original space at Haunch of Venison Yard. The newly renovated building opens up a range of new and exciting exhibiting possibilities for our artists. Such an impressive new space will allow us to continue mounting ambitious exhibitions for all of our artists.”
Annabelle Selldorf of Selldorf Architects remarked that in her vast experience of designing spaces for the purpose of viewing art she has found that the challenge is about “the pure quest for good proportions and light in the service of viewing art. Haunch of Venison in London is a remarkable and beautiful space with a great deal of history that I have admired for many years. In New York the work entails the conversion of an already established and elegant gallery. The task is to link both spaces with a specific character which welcomes the public and serves the gallery’s artists and exhibition program.”
