With an eye toward further increasing its presence along the Mediterranean coast, Hauser & Wirth will open a new gallery location in Monaco, marking the gallery’s 13th space around the globe, alongside ones in New York, London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and Zurich. Opening in June, the Monaco gallery’s inaugural show will be a solo outing dedicated to artist Louise Bourgeois. It will become the first gallery with an international presence to have a space in the principality.
The Monaco location, which will also include a private viewing room, measures just over 3,100 square feet, with 30-foot-high ceilings, and has been designed by the gallery’s longtime architectural collaborator Selldorf Architects. The Bourgeois exhibition will present a combination of the artist’s sculptures, installations, and works on paper and be accompanied by one of her famed “Spider” sculptures, which be installed in the gardens adjacent to the gallery’s building.
The opening in Monaco is part of the local government’s push to grow the city-state’s arts and cultural offerings. “When we were invited to play a part in the continuing revival of the art scene in Monaco, we saw that it offered an exceptional opportunity to present our artists in the heart of [the] city, engaging with the vibrant contemporary scene across the south of France and strengthening our European presence,” Iwan Wirth, the gallery’s cofounder and president, said in a statement. “In former times, Monaco was a destination for artists, writers, and filmmakers who were as captivated as we have been by the Côte d’Azur.”
In 2019, Hauser & Wirth confirmed that it would open a massive 16,145-square-foot location on Menorca’s Isla del Rey in the Balearic Islands, off the coast of Spain. That location, which includes exhibition and artist residency space, is due to open in July with a Mark Bradford exhibition. (The space’s 2020 opening was delayed because of the pandemic.) And last July, the gallery opened a long-term pop-up location in the New York summer getaway town of Southampton.
© ADAGP 2021 / The Easton Foundation Courtesy the Foundation and Hauser & Wirth; Photo: François Fernandez / Christopher Burke
The Monaco space, located along the famed Côte d’Azur, is an extension of Hauser & Wirth’s efforts to open galleries outside traditional art capitals. In addition to Menorca, it also has a space in Somerset, in the English countryside, and ones in Southampton, New York, and St. Moritz, Switzerland, both of which are seasonal resort communities. In his statement, Wirth added, “This is something we have always done. But it’s an even more important step given the impact of events over the last year during which we have sought out new ways to present and sell works of art.”
