Tim Blum, the co-founder of the influential Los Angeles gallery lately known simply as Blum, says he will “sunset” the gallery he has run for more than three decades—at least in its traditional model—citing burnout over the gruelling art market demands of constant art fairs and gallery openings.
Blum, along with his former partner Jeff Poe, co-founded the gallery formerly known as Blum & Poe in 1994 and are credited with introducing American audiences to Japanese artists like Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami, and giving early solo shows to art market darlings including Mark Grotjahn and Anna Weyant. In 2023, Poe left the gallery, which was renamed to reflect the change.
First reported by Artnews, the transition was not sparked by the industry-wide drop in art sales—Blum says he is burnt out after 30 years. “This is not about the market,” Blum told Artnews. “This is about the system.”
Just weeks ago at Art Basel, Blum was frank about the art market’s gloomy state of affairs. He told The Art Newspaper that “collectors have more negotiating power right now—if anyone says otherwise, they’re full of shit. We are in the midst of a paradigmatic shift, and to not acknowledge this is to peddle an outdated narrative.”
In a statement shared with The Art Newspaper, Blum says his eponymous gallery will be “transitioning away from the traditional gallery format toward a more flexible model” that includes the closure of the gallery’s permanent public spaces in Los Angeles and Tokyo. “This structure will allow us to engage with artists and ideas in new ways, through collaborations, special projects, and longer-term visions still in development,” he added.
A previous space on New York’s Upper East Side closed in 2023, and a gallery representative said Blum is still determining how to use a Tribeca space that was meant for a new gallery location.
“Of course I’ll still be buying and selling art,” Blum told Artnews. “It’s part of my DNA.”