David Lewis Gallery

Before opening the gallery, the gallery's founder worked in New York City and Paris as an art critic, contributing regularly to international art magazines such as Artforum and Frieze. Lewis was also a professor and completed a Ph.D. examining the career of Francis Picabia.{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=David |title=David Lewis on Francis Picabia |url=https://www.artforum.com/print/reviews/201704/francis-picabia-67199 |access-date=April 22, 2023 |website=www.artforum.com |date=April 2017 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=title name |url=http://www.caareviews.org/dissertations/318/completed |access-date=April 22, 2023 |website=title name}} His academic background directly informs the programming of artists and artistry at the gallery, which, makes art-historical arguments on behalf of its represented emerging and established artists.{{Cite web |title=David Lewis Gallery |url=https://www.wmagazine.com/story/david-lewis-art-gallery |access-date=April 22, 2023 |website=W Magazine |date=March 25, 2014 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=David Lewis {{!}} Contemporary Art Gallery {{!}} PLATFORM |url=https://www.platformart.com/galleries/david-lewis |access-date=April 22, 2023 |website=www.platformart.com |language=en}} During this time, Lewis published extensively, including essays on Guston, Sturtevant, and Matisse and he continued to publish after the gallery opened, including a review of the MoMA Picabia exhibition for Artforum and an essay on the history of cinema for Chrissie Iles's Dreamlands exhibition at the Whitney.

From 2013 to 2020, David Lewis gallery was located on the fifth floor of 88 Eldridge Street. The gallery served as a central location for a group of emerging artists. For some of these artists, like Thornton Dial, the gallery built a critical and commercial legacy for them, who, despite the artists achievements that would lead to broad institutional acclaim. Beginning with the Philip K. Dick inspired A Scanner, Darkly,{{Cite web |last=Pechman |first=Ali |title=David Lewis |url=https://www.artforum.com/picks/a-scanner-darkly-43873 |access-date=April 22, 2023 |website=www.artforum.com |date=November 2013 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=October 22, 2013 |title='A Scanner, Darkly' at David Lewis Gallery |url=https://observer.com/2013/10/a-scanner-darkly-at-david-lewis/ |access-date=April 22, 2023 |website=Observer |language=en-US}} the gallery ethos articulated a distinct pattern of experimental voices and exhibitions, including Lucy Dodd whose institutional exhibition included the Whitney Museum's 2016, Open Plan,{{Cite web |title=Open Plan: Lucy Dodd |url=https://whitney.org/exhibitions/open-plan-lucy-dodd |access-date=April 22, 2023 |website=whitney.org |language=en}} and Dawn Kasper, whose Nomadic Studio Practice culminated at the Sala Chini at the 2017 Venice Biennale.{{Cite web |last=Freeman |first=Nate |date=May 9, 2017 |title=Dawn Kasper Will Be Staying in the Giardini's Central Pavilion for Six Months |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/market/dawn-kasper-will-be-staying-in-the-giardinis-central-pavilion-for-six-months-8275/ |access-date=April 22, 2023 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}

In the following years, the gallery began representing historically established artists such as Barbara Bloom and the estates of Thornton Dial, John Boskovich and Mary Beth Edelson.{{Cite news |last1=Cotter |first1=Holland |last2=Smith |first2=Roberta |last3=Farago |first3=Jason |date=December 4, 2020 |title=The Most Important Moments in Art in 2020 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/arts/important-art-moments-2020.html |access-date=April 22, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} Some of these artists, like Thornton Dial, the gallery built a critical and commercial legacy for them who, despite the artists' achievements, had previously been excluded from art history and the art market.{{Cite news |last=Grimes |first=William |date=January 27, 2016 |title=Thornton Dial, Outsider Artist Whose Work Told of Black Life, Dies at 87 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/arts/thornton-dial-outsider-artist-whose-work-told-of-black-life-dies-at-87.html |access-date=April 22, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} David Lewis successfully created a reception and a market for Thornton Dial in the contemporary art world (rather than as an 'outsider' or 'self-taught'), changing Thornton Dial's place in the canon of contemporary art.{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Alexandra M. |date=December 15, 2020 |title=Enter the Rich, Vibrant Worlds of Thornton Dial |url=http://hyperallergic.com/609053/thornton-dial-world-review-david-lewis/ |access-date=April 22, 2023 |website=Hyperallergic |language=en-US}} David Lewis was the first to garner Thornton Dial reviews by significant contemporary critics such as Roberta Smith, the first to exhibit Thornton Dial at contemporary art fairs, the first to bring Thornton Dial to Art Basel and to Europe.{{Cite web |date=November 3, 2020 |title=Editors' Picks: 13 Events for Your Art Calendar This Week, From David Zwirner's Donald Judd Show to Thornton Dial at David Lewis |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/editors-picks-november-2-2020-1917775 |access-date=April 22, 2023 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}

In September 2021, David Lewis relocated to 57 Walker Street in Tribeca, opening with an exhibition of Todd Gray.{{Cite web |last1=Villa |first1=Tessa Solomon,Angelica |last2=Solomon |first2=Tessa |last3=Villa |first3=Angelica |date=September 7, 2021 |title=ARTnews in Brief: 2021 Frieze Artist Award Goes to Sung Tieu—and More from September 10, 2021 |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/breaking-art-industry-news-september-2021-week-1-1234603158/ |access-date=April 22, 2023 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}} The gallery's programming continues to focus on both historical and contemporary art, with Thornton Dial, in conversation with David Hammons and Robert Rauschenberg in 'Dial / Hammons / Rauschenberg', Claire Lehmann's debut solo exhibition, and Peter Schlesinger.

The gallery also opened a second location in East Hampton, exhibiting Thornton Dial, Barbara Bloom, Tomás Esson, Todd Gray, and Peter Schelsinger in its first season.

In May 2024, the gallery announced it would close after a decade in operation. Its last show was called, "Everyone Loves Picabia," a nod to the painter and writer Francis Picabia's love for composing with circles.{{Cite web |last=Solomon |first=Tessa |date=2024-05-24 |title=Beloved New York Gallery David Lewis to Close After 11 Years |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/beloved-new-york-gallery-david-lewis-to-close-after-11-years-1234707933/ |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}} The gallery joins a list of important contemporary art galleries in Manhattan closing its doors in 2024, including Washburn Gallery and Marlborough Gallery, as well as several younger enterprises—including Foxy Production, Queer Thoughts, and JTT.

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Category:Defunct art museums and galleries in Manhattan

Category:Contemporary art galleries in the United States

Category:Contemporary art exhibitions

Category:2013 establishments in New York City

Category:2024 disestablishments in New York City