As part of NADA’s New York Gallery Open, some of New York’s most celebrated galleries talk to Collecteurs about the current cultural landscape and why community is the key to the vitality of the overall arts ecosystem. Here we speak to David Fierman of Fierman Gallery.
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Collecteurs: When was the gallery launched? And how did it all get started?
David Fierman: The gallery launched in 2016 with a focus on queer perspectives, overlooked artists, and the intimacy of drawing. I had recently closed a gallery that was owned in a partnership and was looking to open independently at that point. I opened with a show of Kathe Burkhart’s small drawings, and followed that with a show of Jimmy Wright’s work from the 1970s which has since been acquired by the Whitney and the Hammer.
C: Local support systems seem to be the key to success in the current cultural landscape. We’d love to know more about any current support systems you have in your neighborhood.
DF: The very founding of the gallery felt like a community act – with no savings banked for a renovation or a large gallery, I was basically given a turnkey legacy space by a friend. Nicole Russo of Chapter NY offered me the lease as she was looking for a larger space. She, in turn, had taken over the space from Bureau, when Gabrielle Giattino felt the same need, so it has been a community gallery space for over a decade. Moreover, upon opening the space, I encouraged Jackie Klempay, a friend and fellow gallerist, to take over the vacant adjacent storefront and open SITUATIONS. We have collaborated on art fairs, exhibitions, openings, and are generally linked in our approach to dealing and our interest in collaboration.
C: As consumption of culture shifts more and more online. What creative ways are you exploring to continue to be relevant? What part does the community play in this?
DF: To be honest I am not sure entirely how to navigate the online marketplace and how this will increase relevance and visibility. I am not a member of Artsy or Artspace, though I actively post on Instagram and try to take advantage of my email following. I have been featured on some of the online media outlets like CAD, but in general I am wary of how these online platforms contribute to the gallery’s success. Instagram is a gallery’s best and worst friend – that moment when you sell a painting on Instagram feels like you won a lottery or cheated the system – and at the same time it seriously limits the actual engagement between viewer and artwork.
Installation view of Amir Guberstein: Lamentations at Fierman Gallery
C: It’s becoming increasingly challenging to drive steady foot traffic into gallery spaces. What brings your gallery visitors?
DF: Like I mentioned, local press always helps, as do recommendations to collectors and other members of the public from other dealers in the neighborhood. I feel like we’re always sending people to each others’ galleries. The stubborn persistence of the gallery space is something I love, because it exists largely at this point for the community of artists, critics, and dealers, but it is hard to gain traction with the public at large—and with collectors.
C: Tell us a little bit about your program. What initiatives does your gallery support?
DF: My gallery focuses prominently, but not exclusively, on permutations of a drawing practice and on queer and often overlooked artists. I hosted the first show of Jimmy Wright’s work from the 1970’s, and Chuck Nanney’s first solo show in New York in almost twenty years. I am also interested in First Nations’ artists such as Matthew Kirk and Jeneen Frei Njootli, as it’s of political importance to bring exposure to these artists in New York and at large. I recently shared a booth at the Material Fair in Mexico City with Macaulay Fine Art, a contemporary gallery from Vancouver that shows several First Nations’ artists including Matthew Kirk, Charlene Vickers, and Gigaemi Kukwits.
C: So many of the gallery spaces have interesting “past lives.” Does yours have one?
DF: Originally it was Bozidar Brazda’s studio and project space, and then Ryan Foerster I believe lived there after for a short while, after which Gabrielle took it over. I believe it was originally called Dispatch, and then Bureau which now is on Norfolk. It is always nice to have this connection with other dealers; recently I invited Virginia Overton to a gallery dinner and her assistant wrote back saying she had been meaning to contact me because she needed the dimensions of the room from an installation image from 2010!