NEW YORK, NY.- Marianne Boesky Gallery announced that it will open Boesky West, a new project space in Aspen on March 8, 2017. The 3,000 square-foot building, originally the cabin of late 1800s photographer James Horsethief Kelly, was reimagined and designed by Selldorf Architects and executed in cooperation with local architecture firm David Johnston Architects. Boesky West will serve as an extension of the Chelsea flagship, and feature exhibitions both by gallery artists and artists invited to present special projects. With the new space, the gallery aims to provide opportunities for these artists to engage with the broad cultural community in Aspen, as well as with the sublime and awe-inspiring landscape.
Boesky West will present exhibitions, open to the public, during the peak winter-spring and summer seasons. The inaugural exhibition will feature new and recent work by artists and long-time friends Frank Stella and Larry Bell. The exhibition, which is currently in development, will highlight both artists ongoing fascinations with abstraction, material, light, and space, creating a dynamic dialogue between their distinct practices. The exhibition marks a rare opportunity to see these two renowned artists together.
Following in the summer, Boesky West will present a solo exhibition of work by artist John Houck, who was recently featured in MoMAs Ocean of Images: New Photography 2015. During the quiet seasons, the gallery plans to host a residency program, still in formation, for curators, historians and writers.
The launch of Boesky West follows a major expansion of the gallery in Chelsea in May 2016, which doubled the overarching footprint there to 13,000 square feet. Encompassing adjacent galleries at 509 and 507 W. 24th Street, the expansion has allowed for more ambitious solo exhibitions that span the two spaces, such as that of Donald Moffett last fall and Pier Paolo Calzolari next month, as well as focused concurrent solo shows, including those of Dutch artist Hannah van Bart and Chicago-based artist William J. OBrien, currently on view.
With the new location in Aspen, the gallery expands its ongoing interest and experimentation with space, architecture, and location as essential to the experience of art. Throughout the gallery's 20-year history, it has presented work across uniquely diverse spaces, including at locations on the Upper and Lower East Side. Boesky West, which is located just blocks from the Aspen Art Museum at 100 South Spring Street, offers an intimate environment with a distinctly different viewing atmosphere to that of Chelsea.
I have long been inspired by Aspens extreme landscape, and the creativity that it has fueled among artists, musicians, writers, and so many other individuals of diverse backgrounds and interests. With the evolution of my vision for the New York-based locations, now seemed the right moment to launch a new platform to inspire further engagement with this vibrant landscape, said Marianne Boesky. I see Boesky West as a space to present the work of our artists in a completely different context and environment than New York, expanding the experience of their work and introducing it to new audiences. At the same time, Boesky West offers the gallery more opportunity to experiment and collaborate with not only artists, but with curators, art historians and critics, and other members of the community.