O
- Son of German dealer Rudolf Zwirner.
- Hated by neighbors (via Art Fag City)
- Judd Tully 5/2011 profile on David Zwirner
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- Rat Fink searching for Scuz Finks, Gold Finks. Artists: Please share your positive/negative experiences with critics, curators, and galleries. Comments from those with direct experience only, please.
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28 comments:
We would anyone expect Zwirner to care about his neighbors? It's quite clear from the shopping mall of shlock that he has built that he only cares about one thing: Money.
He has made great artists look terrible, and taken on some of the most untalented market stars of the last ten years. He will kill Chelsea as the next generation runs away while he turns into Mary Boone.
Don't ever work in the office at Zwirner...there are so many evil hens that work at this gallery. They all cluck around Zwirner (who holds a strong resemblance to Donald Trump), back stab each other, and wear really expensive clothes that no one could afford on a gallery assistant's budget. There is a reason that this gallery consistently has job postings on the NYFA.org website- no one can stand working there.
gossip- Zwirner also has a driver that takes him everywhere in a Mercedes. The driver has to stand at the gallery and wait around while Zwirner conducts his business.
That driver thing is pretty common I guess. I worked for an uptown vanity galleress that did the same thing.
Just for the record I worked briefly for DZ years ago at the old location Soho. As these operations go it's standard business and was one of the most down to earth staffs I ever was with. At least 2 women staff from those days are still with him. They were very fair and down right pleasant. I found David to be really a decent guy who NEVER displayed the crazy histrionics so common to some of his colleagues in the field. To compare him to Mary is ridiculous. He is grounded with much greater vision. 2007 Summer show,“A point in space is a place for an argument,” was scholarly mix of important underknowns past, current stars and future brightlights. Curious if anon actually worked there. No doubt diva behavior probably goes on, but that's the sad truth in any office environ. Try working a few other galleries and see what they're like before you trash DZ so hard. (PS - irony dept.DZ used to ride a skateboard to work in very early yr.s)
He's very much like Mary.
Yuskavage is the next Karin Davie
Mamma Anderson = Damien Loeb
Daniel Richter = Jay Davis
But no Salle or Kruger. That gallery is crap hidden behind real estate.
But I guess the skateboard makes it all ok.
January 29th don't be so cynical or silly.
David will never be Mary.
A true professional that has the means to conduct business properly.
That he's Rudolph's son is only an accident of birth, like everything else.
Those spaces are a little oversized.
David Zwirner does NOT look like Donald Trump. He's slim, well-dressed, has plenty of hair and is quite handsome. He is a classy, old-school dealer, also, the comparison with Mary Boone is ridiculous, the guy has real vision and as someone else said above. Mary Boone has a lot of irrelevant, wall-filler stuff that has no long-term prospects. Zwirner's artists have a lot of museum shows and institutional support, which are the legs upon which art careers are built. He is envied, because he has the vision to have a great program and the ability to handle primary and secondary markets. I know people who have worked there and have confirmed what arthandler said above, that it's a great place to work, etc...so before trashing the place, please realize that if Mary Boone is your standard of comparison, you might be somewhat out of the loop.
Being a current art handler and long time friend of Zwirner I can say that your comparisons to Mary Boone are ridiculous and saying that all he cares about is money is also ridiculous. David is a very down to earth guy. Sure he's made lots of money but he is never flashy. He does indeed have a driver (it's a Lexus not a Mercedes) but he only uses him on work days. His personal car is a Honda minivan. His kids are all very down to earth and not spoiled. Yes, the new house is a bit large but that's the only place where David flaunts his 15 years of hard work. I think everyone is envious of him because of how he maintains his image. He's not very social for an art dealer. He spends most time with his family and keeps a very low profile which seems to bug people. I think it's just a natural part of being successful to have haters. First hand I can say that working in his gallery is really easygoing and pleasant. There isn't a single person in any department that I don't like. There are no divas and there are quite a few people who have been here for the majority of David's 15 year career. I think judging him is a huge mistake as is comparing him to his truly pretentious peers such as Boone and Gagosian.
I bought a Marcel Dzama drawing here before they expanded to fill the block. I'm not really a collector, I love his work and they were surprisingly affordable and after seeing some available works on their website I just went to the desk and said I was interested in purchasing something by him. The guy behind the desk kind of had an attitude, like "who are YOU?" but a woman came out a few minutes later (don't remember her name) and took me inside and took out a box of available work and took them out one by one for me and was very pleasant and we chatted a bit as I picked one out. They had it framed and was delivered a few weeks later. You hear a lot about galleries ignoring people who are interested in buying if they're not someone important, but I was treated very well for being a 'nobody' and it was a good experience.
Our gallery has a relationship with Zwirner. He is not only professional, he is the only deal I have Ever heard of who steers collectors to younger galleries that he feels are important. He is good to his staff and has a very good stable who he supports. DZ is a class act. From experience.
Personally, David Zwirner is a complete ass. I have had many interactions with this man every one totally unpleasant. He has publicly humiliated friends of mine for no reason other than he he was having a bad day. He is basically an entitled spoiled brat. Other than that he is a good dealer who uses his great artists to buoy the careers of his mediocre artists which, i guess, is pretty normal. I can't believe that Zwirner gets Green Circles of approval while Matthew Higgs, a hard working, honest dude, gets the dreaded red "x" of disapproval.
Comparing DZ to Matthew Higgs is a like hearing about flourescent paints from a blind person. Perhaps you walk around in polyester pants and gucci shoes with no socks, or maybe you think Dash Snow is a truly undervalued genius while sipping lukewarm capuccinos at Pastis, at about 4:05 pm on a weekday. "Monday" - the **gallerist's** holiday. Is Coldplay a great band? So real. So deep.
It seems very likely that DZ is randomly insulting **your** friends. Christian Flick? Hello? Where's my Kippenberger?
I feel bad for his handlers, but I guess every gallery is slimming back in the most inappropriate ways...
I worked for Zwirner and it was a nightmare...seemingly adept but terribly unprofessional. DZ is rude to staff which is why he cannot keep an assistant. Notice all of the nyfa postings and high turnover.
amen!
I have witnessed him being rude to his personal assistant. I'm sure he is nice to the people that have cash in hand-but to someone that is his slave-WATCH OUT!
Ditto on "WATCH OUT", that is if you are an employee and not a top curator or buyer- I worked here as well and it was pure hell at best. I smell BS on some of the positive comments. A certain David Zwirner publicist at work???
On a positive note, the artists are top notch.
I worked there many years ago. The office is like a wasp nest full of bitchy, female vileness - which he encourages. Working there was like being in high-school, but with much better clothes. As for the man... David is like a rude, arrogant, trantrum throwing 3 year old with a colic. His tantrums are actually very amusing and entertaining, as it is always fun to watch a grown man stomp around and and whine over something as silly as a missed phone call.
“I’ve heard every one in the book,” says David Zwirner, a dealer. “ ‘The Feds are there. He owes $200 million. He’s going to be shut down. He’s going to be shot by Russian mobsters.’ Sometimes I think Larry himself comes up with these rumors because he likes people to talk about him.” -NY Times Pulling Art Sales Out of Thinning Air
By DAVID SEGAL
Published: March 7, 200
Zwirner is a sad, second rate dealer. When everyone else refused to talk shit about a Gagosian- Zwirner comes up with a petty, back handed way to get in a a bunch of unconfirmed crap. He is small and too insecure to ever be a serious gallery.
Seriously. Can this guy just turn down the volume on his P.R. campaign for a second. Nauseating. Did you catch his latest in the New York Times? Yes it is perfect timing for him to sweep up other people's talent since he can't develop his own. Does anyone remember Katy Shimmert?
Agree with above post. Too much PR. Too many bad shows. Too much money.
I'd be willing to bet some serious downsizing is coming soon. Too much ego, not enough curatorial brains with the big DZ.
Some of the artists he poached are leaving or looking to leave. The grass is not always greener. I think Sue Williams is already gone. Ivan Wirth dumped his greedy ass.
read today that sue went back to 303. wonder who else will get smart!
from my experience, DZ is a full service corporate establishment and it is run that way. probably the first gallery with their own PR team in house? artists have everything done for them at the expense of employees. as a result, the roster has some good artists, but many of them are helpless and mediocre (sad but true) and would be nothing without them. think of dzama, thater, schimert, sone for example.
To the above commenter:
Wow. This gallery sounds like a GREAT place for an artist to be. If you're being honest, by your account, even mediocre artists can make it into the major surveys like the Whitney Biennial with the help of David Zwirner.
Thank you for the tip. My dealer hasn't been able to do that for me (and I'm not mediocre).
the list of mediocre goes on- yuskavage- once was great- but at zwirner looks desparate to fit in. she was a star at boesky. daniel richter- just bad. but cant ignore his handful of greats- dumas, alys, flavin, genzkin, lorca di corcia, welling, douglas. id say the greats make it with or without zwirner. tho he's smart to follow the money. and the mediocres get put in the closet at the art fairs. take that tip to heart ms/mr "im not mediocre".
I think someone needs to lay off the spiked egg nog. Yuskavage is still a star, and I don't see her work in the art fair closet. Instead I see a major and well promoted solo show in the past year. What more do you want? Also, you say she seems desperate to fit in... fit into what? Surely not the thread of minimalism and abstraction that Z has done so well with. I for one respect the variety in his roster.
As a collector I have had very good treatment there despite my comparatively modest means. They show the work, they discuss it with you, they follow-up. None of the artists I have collected from Z have anything to complain about when it comes to how their work is presented to a client.
As a collector of Daniel Richter's work, I simply disagree with you, but this is not the forum. He is a serious artist.
David Zwirner and his wife bought two residential BUILDINGS next to our apartment and turned them into a single-family mansion. Before construction started, we got a call from his lawyer saying that he was generously only blocking some of our windows and not extending his building as far back into the yard as local laws allowed.
All the neighbors contacted local elected officials. Apparently, though, there was nothing we could do. Our scarce light was blocked for him and his house full of exotic animal skins, probably illegal kills in African game reserves.
What an evil family!!
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