Paula Cooper has named four of her long-time employees as partners in her New York gallery, cementing her legacy and the gallery’s framework for its current and future artists.
Steve Henry has been named the senior partner and Lucas Cooper the managing partner, while Alexis Johnson and Anthony Allen have both been named partners. Together they have a combined 60 years of experience at the gallery and “will work closely with Paula Cooper to direct the gallery’s future” according to a statement.
“Lucas, Steve, Anthony, and Alexis understand what has made this gallery possible for 50 years. They not only understand the culture, but also how to evolve in the next chapter. I look forward to continuing our work together on behalf of the gallery’s artists,” Paula Cooper says. “Their dedication and that of the staff, community of professionals, and collectors with whom we collaborate has made clear that there is a place for a focused, artist-driven gallery like ours—even in an art world that has continued to change dramatically since we opened our doors,” she adds.
Paula Cooper Gallery first opened on Prince Street in SoHo in 1968, with a politically charged exhibition benefiting the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, featuring artists whose careers she helped shape and whose work she still represents, such as Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt. In 2020, the gallery opened a pop-up location in Palm Beach, Florida, and it will reopen its refurbished location at 534 West 21st Street following renovations in late 2021.