Representing over forty artists and estates, David Zwirner is a contemporary art gallery active in both the primary and secondary markets. Since opening its doors in 1993, it has been home to innovative, singular, and pioneering exhibitions across a variety of media and genres. The gallery has helped foster the careers of some of the most influential artists working today, including Luc Tuymans and Neo Rauch, who had their U.S. debut exhibitions at the gallery (in 1994 and 2000, respectively), and has maintained long-term representation of a wide-ranging, international group of artists. During the 1990s, the gallery began representing Michaël Borremans, Raoul De Keyser, Stan Douglas, Marcel Dzama, On Kawara, Toba Khedoori, Jockum Nordström, Raymond Pettibon, Thomas Ruff, Katy Schimert, Yutaka Sone, Diana Thater, and
Christopher Williams.
The gallery’s relocation from SoHo to West 19th Street in New York’s Chelsea district in 2002, and its expansion from 10,000 to 30,000 square feet in 2006, has allowed multiple full-scale exhibitions to be mounted simultaneously. Since 2000, more artists have subsequently joined the gallery, including Adel Abdessemed, Tomma Abts, Francis Alÿs, Karin Mamma Andersson, R. Crumb, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Marlene Dumas, Suzan Frecon, Isa Genzken, Chris Ofili, Michael Riedel, James Welling, and Lisa Yuskavage.
The gallery also represents the Estates of Dan Flavin, Gordon Matta-Clark, John McCracken, Alice Neel, Jason Rhoades, Fred Sandback, and Al Taylor. In 2010, David Zwirner announced its exclusive representation of Judd Foundation. In 2011, the gallery announced its representation of
Carol Bove in partnership with Maccarone, New York. In 2012, Doug Wheeler joined the gallery, followed by
Yayoi Kusama, Oscar Murillo, Jordan Wolfson, and the Estate of Ad Reinhardt in 2013.
In October 2012, David Zwirner expanded into Europe. The gallery opened in an 18th-century Georgian townhouse on 24 Grafton Street in the heart of London’s Mayfair district with a solo exhibition of new works by Luc Tuymans. After a renovation overseen by architect Annabelle Selldorf of Selldorf Architects, the building has almost 10,000 square feet throughout five floors, with main exhibition spaces on three levels.
Further expansion continued in New York with a new five-story building at 537 West 20th Street, also designed by architect Annabelle Selldorf. The 30,000 square foot gallery opened in February 2013, becoming the first commercial art gallery to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. The inaugural exhibition was by Dan Flavin and
Donald Judd.
In the primary sector, the gallery covers a broad spectrum of contemporary artistic practice, from seminal Minimalist works to large-scale installation and time-based performances and video work. In the secondary market, the gallery has become known for presenting historically researched exhibitions and publications devoted to the work of modern and contemporary artists.
From 2000 to 2009, David Zwirner was a partner with Iwan Wirth in Zwirner & Wirth, a gallery on New York’s Upper East Side, which focused on private sales. The collaboration yielded a series of significant exhibitions, including Gerhard Richter: Early Paintings (2000); Bruce Nauman (2001);
Cy Twombly: Letter of Resignation (2002/2003); Claes Oldenburg: Early Work (2005); David Hammons (2006);
Joseph Beuys: Sculpture and Drawing (2007); Dan Flavin: the 1964 Green Gallery exhibition (2008); and Selections from the Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs (2008). Following the move of David Zwirner’s part of the business to Chelsea, highlights have included Dan Flavin: Series and Progressions (2009), an ambitious survey of the artist’s work in fluorescent light; Edward Kienholz: Roxys, which presented a seminal installation by the artist; and Primary Atmospheres: Works from California 1960-1970, a critically acclaimed survey of West Coast Minimalism (both 2010). These types of art historical surveys now make up the exhibition programming in the gallery’s West 20th Street location.
