Even in Denver’s fast-growing art scene, the number of real players remains small.
That’s why the June appointment of veteran dealer Ron Judish as director of the newly opened Gallery T immediately grabbed attention and gave the commercial space on Santa Fe Drive instant credibility.
Add in an inaugural exhibition of original prints by art-world superstars Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons — some selling for as much as $50,000 — and the buzz was on.
“Let’s be honest,” Judish said. “Part of that was also to gain attention, to get people in the door and to say, ‘This is what we want to do.’ We call it the shock and awe.”
In the 10 days since its formal opening, Gallery T has already positioned itself as one of the city’s top galleries and a third anchor of the ArtDistrict on Santa Fe, along with the Museo de las Americas and Carson van Straaten Gallery.
“How many other price tags of $50,000 are there along Santa Fe in galleries?” said Adam Lerner, executive director of the Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar. “If it’s successful, then it would bring a whole new level of art clientele.”
The 3,000-square-foot space, located in a historic storefront building that most recently was home to a trophy and plaque business, is loosely divided into three sections that correspond to sales areas.
Besides presenting six temporary exhibitions a year, it will have a permanent section featuring works by the nine established and emerging artists it represents full time. Six are from Denver, including Emmett Culligan, Ian Fisher and William Stockman.
The rest of the gallery is devoted to what is known as the “secondary market” — older artworks being resold. Currently on view are past pieces by such noted artists as Nancy Graves, David True and Terry Winters.
“The more you can mix the local scene with the internationally recognized artist community, the better it will be for collectors and local artists. That intermingling will just produce higher standards,” Lerner said.
Besides boosting the Santa Fe art district, Gallery T can also be seen as the latest in a series of strides forward for the city’s handful of top galleries, which are raising the scale and scope of their operations.
In early 2009, Plus Gallery plans to move into a space under construction at 2501 Larimer St. It merges a two-story addition and a historic building formerly part of the Benjamin Moore paint-factory complex.
In February, William and Jan van Straaten, owners of the Van Straaten Gallery in Chicago and Riverhouse Editions, acquired the Sandy Carson Gallery, bringing new artists along with them and giving the space a higher profile.
The Robischon Gallery has moved aggressively into the hot contemporary Chinese market and is currently spotlighting Ann Hamilton, who represented the United States at the 1999 Venice Biennale.
Gallery T is the fulfillment of a dream for owner Andrew Kalmar, a 29-year-old hedge-fund analyst who loves art. While the gallery is certainly operating as a for-profit venture, he said he is not in it for the money.
“If I want to keep the lights on, obviously, I have to sell things, right?” he said. “But this is more an idea around the promotion of art, the promotion of the standard of art, than: ‘I can figure a way to make money at this that other people can’t.’ ”
After Kalmar discovered the building where the gallery is located at the beginning of the year, he set about renovating the space and finding someone who could run it. Judish was recommended to him, and the two had a series of discussions in early summer.
“The more we talked,” Judish said, “the more I became convinced that he knew what he was doing and was aware of all the pitfalls and, yet, still wanted to move forward. What really struck me is that he had a very clear head on his shoulders.”
Judish, a Denver native, has been a well-recognized figure in the city’s art scene for more than 25 years. He headed two prominent galleries and has worked as a private dealer since the second folded in May 2003.
“I’m thrilled for Ron personally,” said longtime friend Jim Robischon, director of the Robischon Gallery, one of the city’s oldest and most respected commercial spaces. “He has had so many hits and misses and stops and starts that it’s got to be really tough for him.
“We just think he’s talented and smart and we share a lot of the same goals, aspirations and ideas, and so, I think he can only lift the scene. It might be more competition for us, but hopefully, he’ll enlighten new buyers.”
Kalmar acknowledged that opening an art gallery during what is emerging as the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression was not the best timing, but he is not deterred.
Historically, art holds its value and continues to be bought and sold during bad times, he said, and it helps that he is not depending on the gallery to make a living.
Kalmar believes there will be exciting opportunities for the gallery in 2009 and 2010, when he hopes the economy will begin to improve and art collectors will start accelerating their purchases.
“If things are mildly better and we’re still around,” he said, “and I think we will be, and our reputation hopefully is good and we’re known, then you do sort of catch the wave.”
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
