Paula Cooper Gallery announced that art dealer Simone Subal will join its team as senior director in New York, effective August 26.
The news comes two months after the Simone Subal Gallery on the Lower East Side closed its doors after 12 years of operation. Its demise is part of a larger shakeup in the gallery sector. At least 12 galleries in New York have been forced to close in the past year as sales fell due to a downturn in the art market. Several former gallery owners eventually moved on to larger dealers, including Jasmin Tsou of JTT, who went to Lisson, and Tif Sigfrids to the gallery in Canada.
“I am thrilled to be returning to Paula Cooper Gallery,” Subal said in a statement. “Paula was the reason I moved to New York in 2000, and I was fortunate to be able to stay close to the gallery and team after I left. Paula’s grace and integrity, as well as the gallery’s commitment to always putting artists first, have been a true inspiration to me.”
Founded in 2011, the Simone Subal Gallery presented cutting-edge art with elegance and promoted European artists such as Anna KE, Julien Bismuth and Florian Meisenberg. It devoted two early solo exhibitions to Emily Mae Smith, whose auction prices soared to $1.6 million during the pandemic; the artist later moved to the more established Petzel Gallery.
Installation view, “Anna KE and Daniel Sinsel,” Condo New York: Simone Subal Gallery with Sadie Coles HQ, London. 2018 © Artist, courtesy of Sadie Coles HQ, London and Simone Subal Gallery, New York
Subal has included many artists in institutional collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
“It’s a great fit,” said art consultant Wendy Cromwell of Subal’s move to Paula Cooper, a legendary gallery known for its focus on conceptual and minimal art. “She’s universally loved and highly regarded. She’s very curatorial. Her program has been successful in terms of the museum focus.”
For 49-year-old Subal, joining the Paula Cooper Gallery is a homecoming. Born and raised in Vienna, the artist interned at Paula Cooper in 1999 and worked there from 2000 to 2003 before leaving to pursue a master’s degree at Bard College’s Center for Curatorial Studies.
Back in New York, Subal landed a job at Peter Blum Gallery in 2005, where she helped open the Chelsea location and served as director until 2010. After opening her own space on the Bowery, Subal quickly became an important voice for emerging artists and intergenerational dialogue.
In 2017, Subal helped bring Condo, a large-scale collaborative exhibition of international galleries, to New York from London, where it was founded by Vanessa Carlos.
Gallerist Simone Subal explains the work of Sonia Almeida at The Approach, London. As part of Condo 2017. Photo Lorena Muñoz-Alonso.
“We are delighted to welcome Simone back after a period of great success over the past few years,” said Cooper. “Her knowledge, efficiency, dedication and total commitment to the artists complement and enhance the gallery’s vision and goals.”
Subal comes at a time when the gallery is changing. The 86-year-old founder has laid the foundations for a younger generation to carry on her legacy. Three years ago, Lucas Cooper, the dealer’s son who has worked at the gallery since 2013, became managing partner. Steve Henry, who has been director of the gallery since 1998, was appointed senior partner.
Subal is not the only former employee returning to Paula Cooper. Alexis Johnson, who worked there from 2010 to 2016, returned in 2021 after five years at Lévy Gorvy and has since been promoted to partner.
The Paula Cooper Gallery played an important role in Subal’s personal life. She met her husband, art historian Alexander Dumbadze, at the gallery’s Christian Marclay exhibition in 2000. Coincidentally, her return coincides with another Marclay exhibition, “Subtitled,” which opens in Chelsea on September 12.
“It was meant to be that way,” Cooper said.
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