Pace at 65: Mega-Gallery to Celebrate with a Year of Retrospectives
By Elaine YJ Zheng – 25 April 2025, New York

One of the world's oldest mega-galleries will mark its 65th year with a series of exhibitions paying tribute to the decades-long relationships that have cemented its reputation as a champion of artists.

Pace is set to open a series of exhibitions around the globe—with the likes of Joel Shapiro on display in Tokyo, Sam Gilliam in Seoul, and Jean Dubuffet in New York.

Pace: 65 Years (21 May–9 August 2025) is set to open in Geneva next month with a rotating display featuring its roster of 20th-century icons like Agnes Martin, Robert Ryman, and Louise Nevelson, alongside leading gallery artists like Yoshitomo Nara and Adam Pendleton.

Exhibition view: Louise Nevelson, Shadow Dance, Pace Gallery, New York (17 January–1 March 2025).

Exhibition view: Louise Nevelson, Shadow Dance, Pace Gallery, New York (17 January–1 March 2025). Courtesy Pace Gallery.

Meanwhile, an exhibition dedicated to Nevelson is on view at Pace in Seoul until 17 May, featuring the Russian-born formalist's signature black wood, wall-relief sculptures and collages.

Pace founder Arne Glimcher said he had a real passion for her work, discussing his 61-year relationship with the American sculptor (1899–1988), who exhibited with Pace since its early days.

'There was no such thing as installation when [Nevelson] began working in the 1940s,' Glimcher said, adding there were also fewer opportunities for women. 'She gave permission for generations of people to expand.'

Arne Glimcher.

Arne Glimcher. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo: Axel Dupex.

Looking back, Glimcher said gallerists have a vital role: 'to make space for provocative questions, challenge the status quo, and reveal beauty where it was invisible'.

Glimcher opened the gallery, named for his late father, in 1960 at the age of 21 as an MFA student at Boston University.

Since 2001, the gallery has operated under Glimcher's son Marc, with the 87-year-old dealer opening a separate location in Tribeca in 2022 to pursue independent projects.

Today, Pace counts nine locations worldwide and represents over a hundred artists including heavy-hitters like Jeff Koons, David Hockney, the estates of Mark Rothko, Robert Rauschenberg, and Chuck Close, and rising artists like Adrian Ghenie.

Other artists featured in the year's-worth of exhibitions include James Turrell, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Indiana, and Robert Mangold. —[O]

Main image: Exhibition view: Jean Dubuffet, The Hourloupe Cycle, Pace Gallery, New York (13 March–26 April 2025). Courtesy Pace Gallery.

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