Four months after Jeffrey Deitch shut Deitch Projects to become director of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, where have all his artists gone? Seven artists from the stable continue to work with two of his gallery’s former directors, Kathy Grayson and Meghan Coleman, at their three-month old, Soho-based gallery, the Hole. While Grayson insists the Hole does not formally represent any former Deitch artists, they have already featured and plan to work with artists including Taylor McKimens, Ben Jones, Dearraindrop, Takeshi Murata, Francine Spiegel, Barry McGee and Evan Gruzis.
Grayson and Coleman say they will announce a list of gallery-represented artists when they find a larger permanent space. “We are trying to attract an investor to make the transition to a Deitch-calibre space,” said Grayson. The gallery has plans, she added, for “ten big shows to raise money for that permanent space. Then we will announce who we represent.” Most inventory from the artists they have been working with was sold during their Deitch tenure—although some works from Gruzis, Jones and McGee are now part of the Hole’s stock.
London-based Raqib Shaw announced his decision last month to follow former Deitch director Nicola Vassell to Pace Gallery, where she is now a director. Speculation that Vassell might have lured other artists remains, as other big name Deitch artists she worked closely with, like Tauba Auerbach, have yet to make decisions about their New York representation. According to art advisor Lisa Schiff, of Schiff Fine Art, Auerbach “is a very smart woman who is being very patient and trying to make the right decision”. Schiff added: “It’s a very delicate balance and never a perfect one.”
LA-born Kehinde Wiley, with whom Vassell also collaborated at Deitch, selected the Chelsea-based Sean Kelly Gallery as his new representation last September. Tim Noble and Sue Webster are going back to Gagosian, who they first showed with in 2001, as their sole New York gallery. Meanwhile, Jim Isermann and Nari Ward chose representation with Mary Boone and Lehmann Maupin respectively.
But, not all have announced their next move. Robert Lazzarini, Aurel Schmidt, Mariko Mori, Clare Rojas—and the highly coveted Keith Haring Foundation are among those yet to reveal their plans.
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as 'What happened to the Deitch class of 2010?'