Two taste-making dealers—one based in New York, the other in Los Angeles—will merge their galleries, forming a new operation with spaces in both of those cities.
Bridget Donahue and Hannah Hoffman will combine their eponymous enterprises in New York and LA, respectively, to create Hoffman Donahue. The newly formed gallery’s 43-person roster boasts a range of celebrated artists, from Puppies Puppies to Lynn Hershman Leeson.
Both dealers are known for spinning rising talents into stars. Donahue’s gallery, opened in New York’s Chinatown neighborhood in 2015, was among the first to offer solo shows to artists such as Martine Syms and Jessi Reaves, both of whom now show widely in institutions. Hoffman, who opened her gallery in 2013, previously represented artists such as Elaine Cameron-Weir, Monica Majoli, Andy Robert, and more, all of whom have made the jump to Hoffman Donahue.
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The release for the new gallery’s formation touted the fact that the roster is more than 70 percent women artists.
“In this new chapter, nothing is lost and so much is gained. Through years of volatility across the wider gallery landscape, we’ve each remained steady, avoiding the extremes of market highs and lows—which means so much of our shared potential still lies ahead,” the two dealers said in a joint statement.
They seemed to allude to the consolidation and gallery closures afflicting the market now, with enterprises such as Blum and Clearing having shuttered earlier this year. While many have said these developments signal a downturn, some market experts have rebutted these claims.
Hoffman and Donahue spoke of a changed market landscape and a desire to innovate in spite of it. “We both came up in the early 2000s, when galleries looked and operated differently—when even a ‘big gallery’ could still feel personal—and we carry that perspective forward,” they said.
The gallery’s announcement also revealed that Hoffman and Donahue were establishing “an arm of the gallery dedicated to commercial and cross-disciplinary projects.” The release alluded to the various art-and-fashion crossovers undertaken by artists represented by the gallery—Talia Chetrit, for example, memorably photographed Lorde for the singer’s new album this past summer—and teased future collaborations in that vein.
Hoffman Donahue said the merger would be a “full programmatic integration unfolding through 2026.” A booth at Art Basel Paris will mark the merged gallery’s official debut.
It’s not the first time Hoffman and Donahue have worked together. Previously, they were both employed alongside one another at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, a beloved New York gallery that closed when its namesake dealer joined Gladstone Gallery in 2020. The two dealers have also collaborated on fair booths in the past.