Nino Mier Gallery, which was founded in Los Angeles in 2015 and has quickly been growing over the past seven years, will soon add a location in New York.
Opening next January, the space will be inaugurated with a solo show of German artist Jana Schröder, who has been with the gallery since its earliest days. The New York location, located in SoHo, on Crosby Street between Spring and Broome streets, will be designed by Markus Dochantschi of StudioMDA and led by Margaret Zuckerman, who has been a director at the gallery since 2018.
In less than a decade, dealer Nino Mier has expanded at a fast clip. He currently operates five locations in L.A., comprised of a campus of four buildings in West Hollywood and a separate location in Glassell Park, as well as a six-story townhouse and annex in Brussels and a project space in Marfa, Texas.
But for Mier, New York has always been part of the long-term plan.
“I think it was inevitable,” Mier told ARTnews in a recent interview. “New York is the center of the art world, so it was always on my mind. This gives me the opportunity to situate myself not only in the center of the art world but between my other spaces and other art markets.”
In addition to being a mid-point between his West Coast and European spaces, Mier said he sees the New York space as one where he can mount “more ambitious programming” like larger-scale installations than he can currently do in Los Angeles or Brussels. After Schröder’s exhibition, solo shows at the New York space are planned for André Butzer, Seyni Awa Camara, and Kareem-Anthony Ferreira.
Additionally, he wants it to be a place for the artists he represents that do not currently have New York galleries to be able to show their work there, as well as for other artists not currently on the roster to show in New York. The gallery currently represents some 40 artists, including Celeste Dupuy-Spencer, José Lerma, Mindy Shapero, Nicola Tyson, and the estate of William N. Copley.
“I want to give the artists I represent, with all the spaces I have, the opportunities to showcase their work in different venues, from a small gallery to a large gallery, and in different regions,” Mier said. “New York feels like an opportunity to grow not just as a gallery but to grow for the artists and to further expand the program.”
Though SoHo was New York’s main gallery neighborhood by the mid-’70s, the neighborhood eventually was taken over by luxury retailers and galleries soon decamped to Chelsea. More recently, galleries that have left Chelsea have opened up shop in Tribeca and the Upper East Side.
“SoHo to me because of its rich history and past was always in the back of my mind as the place to be in New York,” Mier said. “I always saw myself in SoHo. I love the spaces you’re able to find there with cast-iron facades. I love that there’s a lot of activity in the area—there’s always people in SoHo.”
And it was ultimately this actual space, which has 20-foot ceilings and is bathed with natural light, and its location within SoHo that sold him. “Crosby Street was one of the streets I was hoping for because of its cobblestone,” he said. “It’s a quiet street. You turn off of Spring, and it changes. The light is beautiful. The sound of cars driving on cobblestone is different. There’s a romance to that street to me.”
Mier added, “I think there’s a chance that I’m not the only one that will go back to SoHo.”