Six Months Into Pandemic, Gagosian Launches Livestreams

The events will feature unlikely cameos including author Malcolm Gladwell and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy.

Global mega gallery Gagosian has announced a new series of livestreams they say will give audiences 'a backstage pass to celebrate new exhibitions, even while physically distanced.'

The initiative is a somewhat belated response to the pandemic, which was declared a national emergency in the United States on 31 March. It seems to acknowledge the gallery expects to be impacted for many months to come.

Entitled Gagosian Premieres, the series will be made available on YouTube and the gallery's website beginning on 9 October.

First up is an episode on Los Angeles painter Mary Weatherford, known for affixing neon tube lights to her canvases. It will feature contributions from Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and art critic Hunter Drohojowska-Philp.

Future episodes will centre on photographer Gregory Crewdson and painter Titus Kaphar and feature appearances by celebrities including writer Malcolm Gladwell and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy.

All three artists have solo shows on now at Gagosian galleries. Weatherford's Train Yards continues at the London gallery until 19 December, Kaphar's From a Tropical Space in New York until 19 December, and Crewdson's An Eclipse of Moths in Los Angeles until 24 November.

Gagosian Premieres is something of an evolution of the gallery's Artist Spotlight series, which gathered together essays, videos and artist recommendations centered on one work by one artist for 48 hours each week. Beginning in April the series featured Weatherford and Kaphar, along with Sarah Sze, Katharina Grosse, Theaster Gates and others.

Other galleries have been more bullish on digital initiatives, however, with David Zwirner hosting Online Viewing Rooms for galleries in New York, London, Los Angeles, Paris and Brussels through its Platform series, and Massimo de Carlo, Lisson Gallery and Hauser & Wirth all experimenting with AR or VR exhibitions. —[O]