The Surprising Members of Gagosian’s New Board of Directors
They include a luxury fashion executive, the creators of Snapchat and The Young and the Restless, and an Academy Award winner.
Gagosian Gallery, 980 Madison Ave, New York. Courtesy Gagosian.
On 16 November, Larry Gagosian revealed that his gallery now has a Board of Directors, who met for the first time in May this year.
In addition to eight internal members—including Gagosian, Chief Operating Officer Andrew Fabricant, Chief Creative Officer Alison McDonald, and senior directors from around the world—the board includes an eclectic group of 12 external members.
Among them are: Delphine Arnault, Executive Vice President of Louis Vuitton; Evan Spiegel, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Snap Inc.; Dasha Zhukova Niarchos, co-founder of Moscow's Garage Museum of Contemporary Art; artist Jenny Saville; and Lost in Translation director Sofia Coppola.
'My goal in assembling a Board of Directors was to raise the bar on the gallery's strategic thinking and vision for the future,' Gagosian said.
'I felt it was important to welcome different perspectives and experiences into a conversation about the opportunities and challenges facing artists today and tomorrow, as well as the future of collecting,' he added.
The other external members of the board are: Bill Bell, who created the soap operas The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful; curator Francesco Bonami, director of the 50th Venice Biennale; banker Valentino Carlotti, formerly Chief Business Development Officer at Sotheby's; asset managers Glenn Fuhrman and J. Tomilson Hill; private investor Laurent Asscher; and lawyer Matthew S. Dontzin.
'The external Board members are all experts in their respective fields, all with a deep appreciation for art—collectors themselves—and active in finding ways to engage wider audiences with art,' said a spokesperson for the gallery.
Gagosian, 77, would not comment on whether the establishment of the Board is a step towards taking the company public or passing the reins to another individual, though he recently told The New York Times he would like the gallery to outlive him.
'I'm not contemplating stepping down or slowing down,' he said. —[O]
