Gagosian, the renowned global gallery empire, has announced the closure of one of its three London locations after nearly two decades. The gallery situated on Britannia Street, near King’s Cross, will officially shut down this summer, as reported by the Financial Times.
Opened in 2004, the Britannia Street gallery was the second Gagosian location in London, a city recognized as one of the world’s major art hubs. Covering over 15,000 square feet, it is slightly smaller than the other two Gagosian spaces in London, which are located on Grosvenor Hill and Davies Street, respectively.
The specific reasons behind the decision to close the Britannia Street gallery were not disclosed in the Financial Times report. However, Gagosian is not the only blue-chip gallery to scale back its presence in London. The aftermath of Brexit in 2020 led to market uncertainty, prompting Marian Goodman Gallery, another influential player in the art market, to close its London gallery and adopt a more flexible approach. Gagosian may have taken a similar stance with the closure, as the report indicates that the gallery plans to launch Gagosian Open, an initiative that will place artworks in public sites throughout London.
This recent closure follows Gagosian’s shuttering of its San Francisco space in 2021, allowing the gallery to focus more on its efforts in Los Angeles. However, Gagosian’s growth has not been curtailed. In the past couple of years, the gallery has announced plans to open new spaces in Paris, Athens, and Gstaad, Switzerland. Additionally, it has expanded its roster with the addition of notable artists like Nan Goldin, Cy Gavin, and Jadé Fadojutimi.
Over the years, the Britannia Street gallery has hosted numerous significant exhibitions. It showcased seven solo exhibitions by Damien Hirst, including a 2022 survey of his formaldehyde sculptures. Other notable artists who had solo shows at the gallery include Cecily Brown, Richard Serra, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Rachel Whiteread, Meleko Mokgosi, and Zeng Fanzhi. The most recent exhibition held at the Britannia Street location was “Rites of Passage,” a group show exploring the theme of migration, which concluded in April.
A spokesperson for Gagosian confirmed that the decision to close the Britannia Street gallery was driven by the landlord’s plans to redevelop the space but declined to provide further details.