Venus Over Manhattan was founded in New York in 2012 and is now expanding to Los Angeles. Adam Lindemann provides an update on the venture.
On the East Coast, you are known for a singular curatorial practice that fosters collaboration between artists, dealers and collectors. Will you continue this approach in LA?
Venus has worked hard to establish itself as an interesting alternative to the more traditional gallery format, and we’ve put on curated shows that have gained traction for Jack Goldstein, Raymond Pettibon, as well as the innovative “Calder Shadows” show. Our current exhibition is all from a private collection of great Peter Saul paintings from the ’60s and ’70s, works that haven’t been seen in fifty years. I’m very excited about it. In LA the plan is to do a strictly primary program. I love to be involved with artists and do original shows. Plus, the two spaces allow us to have more variety in our program.
You’ve already announced shows with Dan Colen, Dan McCarthy, Elaine Cameron-Weir, Marianne Vitale and Gelatin for this year. Will you focus more on primary works and young artists?
Yes. For now we are only showing all new work, mainly from younger artists who want to take advantage of LA’s characteristic light and space. There are a lot of NY and European artists who will be excited by our space, so the program should be great.
Was downtown LA the obvious place to open a new space or did you consider other areas as well?
We looked everywhere, at all our options, and none made sense for Venus except for downtown, which is the perfect place. We simply have two big old warehouses, the type they do film shoots in. They are beautiful and amazing, better than almost anything you could have in NY. DTLA is a bit of a destination, but so is everything in LA. There’s good energy there too — I think the timing is just right.
