In the annual battle for venue dominance in the New York photography world, there were two clear winners: the International Center of Photography and eclectic, evolving diversity. While the ICP re-cemented its position of strength with a consistently engaging year of photography programming, perhaps the more exciting development of 2012 was the emergence of the Lower East Side as viable, energetic cluster for photography viewing.
As a reminder, these statistics are built using simple arithmetic, adding up the total number of rating stars I awarded to shows at a particular venue throughout the course of the year. This approach rewards both quality (in the form of 3 STAR shows) and consistent quantity (a solid program of 1 STAR shows month after month) in relatively equal measure. The one kink in the hose comes from venues (both galleries and museums) that support multiple viewing spaces that are filled simultaneously; this scale gives these "bigger" venues an advantage in terms of having more opportunities to show us something brilliant. Caveats aside, I do think the numbers provide a pretty accurate reflection of the past year's best places to enjoy superlative photography.
I reviewed a total of 159 photography shows at 93 different venues in and and around New York in 2012, awarding a total of 204 stars to these exhibits large and small. The International Center of Photography took home 12 stars, besting its rivals by a meaningful margin. It was the only place in the city to deliver two 3 STAR shows (Weegee and Apartheid) and 7 different exhibits at the museum received at least a 1 STAR rating. As a benchmark for the ICP's overall quality this year, last year's winner, Pace/MacGill Gallery, won with a tally of 8 stars. And the ICP's well earned triumph comes against much stiffer competition this year - MoMA, Howard Greenberg Gallery, Yancey Richardson Gallery, and Janet Borden all posted a total of 8 stars or more.
While the data compiled below doesn't include any Lower East Side galleries (none brought in at least 2 stars in aggregate), the emergence of the neighborhood as a location worth visiting for photography was undeniable. Two or three years ago, I reluctantly trekked down to the LES once or twice a year and often came away underwhelmed; at this point, the LES is fixed into my itinerary every two weeks or so. I reviewed worthwhile 1 STAR photography shows at no less than 12 different LES venues in the past year and my crazy tracking spreadsheet has 60+ LES venues that I'm watching for signs of intermittent photographic life. With the recent moves of Sasha Wolf Gallery and Foley Gallery to the neighborhood and the continued conversion of storefronts into risk-taking young galleries, I expect things will continue to heat up. As Chelsea becomes more brittle and corporate, the LES is picking up the mantle as the place for the fresh and unexpected. Virtually all the new (or new to me) spaces I visited for the first time in 2012 were located in and around the LES.
The complete 2012 venue data set is below, with gallery name, followed by total number of review stars earned over the course of the year (including only those 40 venues with a sum total of 2 stars or more):
Specialist Photography Galleries
Howard Greenberg Gallery (here): 9
Yancey Richardson Gallery (here): 9
Janet Borden (here): 8
Yossi Milo Gallery (here): 7
Aperture Gallery (here): 5
Higher Pictures (here): 4
Edwynn Houk Gallery (here): 4
Pace/MacGill Gallery (here): 4
Bonni Benrubi Gallery (here): 3
Steven Kasher Gallery (here): 3
Bruce Silverstein Gallery (here): 3
Danziger Gallery (here): 2
Robert Mann Gallery (here): 2
Walther Collection (here): 2
Contemporary Art Galleries
Pace Gallery (here): 6
Gagosian Gallery (here): 4
Marian Goodman Gallery (here): 4
Sonnabend Gallery (here): 4
Lehmann Maupin (here): 3
Team Gallery (here): 3
Flowers Gallery (here): 2
Gladstone Gallery (here): 2
Sean Kelly Gallery (here): 2
Luhring Augustine (here): 2
Matthew Marks Gallery (here): 2
Metro Pictures (here): 2
Mitchell-Innes & Nash (here): 2
Von Lintel Gallery (here): 2
Winkleman Gallery (here): 2
David Zwirner (here): 2
Museums
International Center of Photography (here): 12
Museum of Modern Art (here): 9
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (here): 5
Metropolitan Museum of Art (here): 5
Yale University Art Gallery (here): 3
Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (here): 2
High Line (here): 2
Katonah Museum of Art (here): 2
Neue Galerie (here): 2
Wadsworth Athaneum (here): 2
Showing posts with label Top Photography Venues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Top Photography Venues. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Top Photography Venues in New York in 2011
I reviewed photography shows at 83 different venues in and around New York in 2011. When you step back and think about the scale of that number, it certainly says something about the tremendous diversity of galleries and museums committed to photography in one form or another that we have at our disposal in this great city. We are blessed with specialist photography galleries of all shapes and sizes, contemporary art galleries with strong photography programs, and museums of all kinds that regularly show photography.
In past years, I have tried to get granular with my statistical analysis of these various places, taking averages and tallying totals, in the attempt to discover unseen patterns and trends. This year, I have returned to a more straightforward approach: simply adding up the total number of stars I awarded to photography shows at a venue over the course of the year. The fact is that this method rewards both extremes in quality and show to show consistency fairly equally, without resorting to trying to build in zeros for those shows I didn't review. I'm happy to report that the results below seem to realistically separate the wheat from the chaff.
The clear winner this year for overall strength of programming was Pace/MacGill Gallery. Of the total of 7 shows the gallery put on this past year, I reviewed 4 and issued a grand total of 8 stars. While there was a cluster of other strong galleries at 6 stars apiece (7 different venues at this score), no other venue in New York delivered as much. I think we would all expect to see names like Janet Borden, Yossi Milo, Bruce Silverstein, and Yancey Richardson among the leaders, given their recent historical strength, but I'd also like to single out newer galleries like Higher Pictures and Sasha Wolf Gallery, who have emerged from the pack with thoughtful and consistently intelligent programming.
With the exception of MoMA at 6 stars (padded a bit by 2 stars for a rehanging of the permanent collection), our museums were particularly weak this year. In general, not only was there a notable absence of blockbusters and scholarly retrospectives, these venues didn't deliver the depth of photographic programming we have generally come to expect. Many galleries roundly bested these institutional players with their offerings. Notable absences from the lists below include both the Whitney and the Guggenheim, and contemporary stalwarts Marian Goodman, Gagosian, Pace, Gladstone, Paula Cooper, Sean Kelly, Robert Miller, and 303. None of these usual suspects had more than a single 1 STAR photography show in 2011, and several had none at all. Perhaps this is just a quirk of longer term scheduling, so here's hoping to see them again in 2012, with the kind of quality photography we know they can deliver.
The complete data set is below, with gallery name, followed by total number of review stars earned over the course of the year (including only those venues with a total of 2 stars and above):
Specialist Photography Galleries
Pace/MacGill Gallery (here): 8
Janet Borden, Inc. (here): 6
Higher Pictures (here): 6
Yossi Milo Gallery (here): 6
Yancey Richardson Gallery (here): 6
Bruce Silverstein Gallery (here): 6
Sasha Wolf Gallery (here): 6
Hasted Kraeutler (here): 5
Danziger Gallery (here): 4
Amador Gallery (here): 3
ClampArt (here): 3
Edwynn Houk Gallery (here): 3
Deborah Bell Photographs (now closed): 2
Bonni Benrubi Gallery (here): 2
Howard Greenberg Gallery (here): 2
Steven Kasher Gallery (here): 2
Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs (here): 2
Robert Mann Gallery (here): 2
Contemporary Art Galleries
Jack Shainman Gallery (here): 6
Salon 94 Freemans/Bowery (here): 5
Wallspace (here): 4
David Zwirner (here): 4
Matthew Marks Gallery (here): 3
Metro Pictures (here): 3
Sikkema Jenkins & Co. (here): 3
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (here): 2
Cheim & Read (here): 2
Gallery at Hermes (here): 2
McKee Gallery (here): 2
Murray Guy (here): 2
Friedrich Petzel Gallery (here): 2
Andrea Rosen Gallery (here): 2
Sonnabend Gallery (here): 2
Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery (here): 2
Museums
Museum of Modern Art (here): 6
International Center of Photography (here): 4
Brooklyn Museum (here): 3
Jewish Museum (here): 3
Metropolitan Museum of Art (here): 3
Artists Space (here): 2
Bruce Museum (here): 2
Museum of the City of New York (here): 2
Florence Griswold Museum (here): 2
In past years, I have tried to get granular with my statistical analysis of these various places, taking averages and tallying totals, in the attempt to discover unseen patterns and trends. This year, I have returned to a more straightforward approach: simply adding up the total number of stars I awarded to photography shows at a venue over the course of the year. The fact is that this method rewards both extremes in quality and show to show consistency fairly equally, without resorting to trying to build in zeros for those shows I didn't review. I'm happy to report that the results below seem to realistically separate the wheat from the chaff.
The clear winner this year for overall strength of programming was Pace/MacGill Gallery. Of the total of 7 shows the gallery put on this past year, I reviewed 4 and issued a grand total of 8 stars. While there was a cluster of other strong galleries at 6 stars apiece (7 different venues at this score), no other venue in New York delivered as much. I think we would all expect to see names like Janet Borden, Yossi Milo, Bruce Silverstein, and Yancey Richardson among the leaders, given their recent historical strength, but I'd also like to single out newer galleries like Higher Pictures and Sasha Wolf Gallery, who have emerged from the pack with thoughtful and consistently intelligent programming.
With the exception of MoMA at 6 stars (padded a bit by 2 stars for a rehanging of the permanent collection), our museums were particularly weak this year. In general, not only was there a notable absence of blockbusters and scholarly retrospectives, these venues didn't deliver the depth of photographic programming we have generally come to expect. Many galleries roundly bested these institutional players with their offerings. Notable absences from the lists below include both the Whitney and the Guggenheim, and contemporary stalwarts Marian Goodman, Gagosian, Pace, Gladstone, Paula Cooper, Sean Kelly, Robert Miller, and 303. None of these usual suspects had more than a single 1 STAR photography show in 2011, and several had none at all. Perhaps this is just a quirk of longer term scheduling, so here's hoping to see them again in 2012, with the kind of quality photography we know they can deliver.
The complete data set is below, with gallery name, followed by total number of review stars earned over the course of the year (including only those venues with a total of 2 stars and above):
Specialist Photography Galleries
Pace/MacGill Gallery (here): 8
Janet Borden, Inc. (here): 6
Higher Pictures (here): 6
Yossi Milo Gallery (here): 6
Yancey Richardson Gallery (here): 6
Bruce Silverstein Gallery (here): 6
Sasha Wolf Gallery (here): 6
Hasted Kraeutler (here): 5
Danziger Gallery (here): 4
Amador Gallery (here): 3
ClampArt (here): 3
Edwynn Houk Gallery (here): 3
Deborah Bell Photographs (now closed): 2
Bonni Benrubi Gallery (here): 2
Howard Greenberg Gallery (here): 2
Steven Kasher Gallery (here): 2
Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs (here): 2
Robert Mann Gallery (here): 2
Contemporary Art Galleries
Jack Shainman Gallery (here): 6
Salon 94 Freemans/Bowery (here): 5
Wallspace (here): 4
David Zwirner (here): 4
Matthew Marks Gallery (here): 3
Metro Pictures (here): 3
Sikkema Jenkins & Co. (here): 3
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (here): 2
Cheim & Read (here): 2
Gallery at Hermes (here): 2
McKee Gallery (here): 2
Murray Guy (here): 2
Friedrich Petzel Gallery (here): 2
Andrea Rosen Gallery (here): 2
Sonnabend Gallery (here): 2
Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery (here): 2
Museums
Museum of Modern Art (here): 6
International Center of Photography (here): 4
Brooklyn Museum (here): 3
Jewish Museum (here): 3
Metropolitan Museum of Art (here): 3
Artists Space (here): 2
Bruce Museum (here): 2
Museum of the City of New York (here): 2
Florence Griswold Museum (here): 2
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Top Photography Venues in New York in 2010
In the past year, I have reviewed photography shows at a total of 77 different venues in New York and the surrounding area. After sifting through the best shows of the year in yesterday's post (here), I wondered about whether there might be some intriguing patterns if I looked more closely at the venues that were organizing those shows.
.
I've divided the venues into four groups: Specialist Photography Galleries, Contemporary Art Galleries (who show photography from time to time), Specialist Photography Museums and more general Art Museums (who also show photography from time to time). Of course we can quibble about which group a particular gallery belongs in, but I've done my best to locate them where I think they actually belong. I've then made two simple sets of calculations: a raw tally of the total number of shows I reviewed at each venue, and subsequently, the average rating I gave those specific shows.
.
In reviewing these statistics, keep in mind a couple of things: 1.) many of these places have multiple gallery spaces, and often run two or more exhibits simultaneously that I might review as separate and distinct shows, so while a normal gallery calendar might have 6-8 shows in a year, some of these locations have twice that many shows on view across the same period of time, and 2.) our rating scale has a high of 3 STARS and a low of 1 STAR, with shows below that receiving no review/rating; therefore the highest possible average is 3.00, and the lowest is 1.00 - although this low number is misleading, as one could imagine tallying all the shows I didn't review and giving them zeros and then adding them into that average, which would bring the numbers down substantially for many venues. Rather than descend into that kind of negativism ("all the photography shows at Gallery X or Museum Y were crap!"), I suggest we focus on the positive and just take the statistics with a grain of salt.
.
So let's start with the total number of reviews per venue:
Specialist Photography Galleries
Yancey Richardson Gallery: 7
Amador Gallery: 5
Janet Borden Inc.: 5
Howard Greenberg Gallery: 5
Edwynn Houk Gallery: 4
Yossi Milo Gallery: 4
Bruce Silverstein Gallery: 4
Danziger Projects: 3
Hasted Hunt Kraeutler/Hasted Kraeutler Gallery: 3
Pace/MacGill Gallery: 3
Throckmorton Fine Art: 3
Aperture Gallery : 2
Bonni Benrubi Gallery: 2
Robert Mann Gallery: 2
Laurence Miller Gallery: 2
Sputnik Gallery: 2
Commerce Graphics: 1
Daniel Cooney Fine Art: 1
Keith DeLellis Gallery: 1
Foley Gallery: 1
Gitterman Gallery: 1
Gallery at Hermes: 1
Higher Pictures: 1
Michael Mazzeo Gallery: 1
Julie Saul Gallery: 1
L. Parker Stevenson: 1
Sasha Wolf Gallery: 1
Contemporary Art Galleries
Cheim & Read: 3
Gladstone Gallery: 3
Pace and PaceWildenstein: 3
Von Lintel Gallery: 3
303 Gallery: 2
ClampArt: 2
Paula Cooper Gallery: 2
Gagosian Gallery: 2
Marian Goodman Gallery: 2
Sean Kelly Gallery: 2
Matthew Marks Gallery: 2
Marvelli Gallery: 2
Robert Miller Gallery: 2
Sonnabend Gallery: 2
Winkleman Gallery: 2
Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery: 2
David Zwirner: 2
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery: 1
Mary Boone Gallery: 1
Bortolami Gallery: 1
Kathleen Cullen Gallery: 1
Gana Fine Art: 1
Murray Guy: 1
Stellan Holm Gallery: 1
Hous Projects: 1
Paul Kasmin Gallery: 1
Koenig Projekte: 1
Galerie Lelong: 1
Luhring Augustine: 1
Postmasters: 1
Andrea Rosen Gallery : 1
Sikkema Jenkins & Co: 1
Stux Gallery: 1
Sundaram Tagore Gallery: 1
Team Gallery: 1
Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects: 1
UBU Gallery: 1
Zabriskie Gallery: 1
.
Specialist Photography Museums
International Center of Photography: 6
Art Museums
Metropolitan Museum of Art: 5
Museum of Modern Art: 5
Whitney Museum of American Art: 3
FLAG Art Foundation: 1
Guggenheim Museum: 1
Jewish Museum: 1
Lever House Collection: 1
MoMA PS1: 1
NYPL of the Performing Arts: 1
Princeton University Art Museum: 1
Studio Museum in Harlem: 1
I think these numbers are mostly indicative of depth, both in the sophistication of their exhibition programs and the breadth of their stables or curatorial interests. They tally consistent commitment and performance in the staging of solid photography shows, and over time, create a sense of brand, in terms of places that visitors can expect to see quality photography over and over again. I think a score of 4 or higher here is something to be proud of. Congratulations to Yancey Richardson Gallery for putting up the biggest numbers.
.
Now let's turn to the average ratings for shows put on at these venues. I have separated out those venues with only one review, as their "average" score is not as meaningful:
Specialist Photography Galleries
.
2 or more shows (average)
Pace/MacGill Gallery: 1.67
Aperture Gallery : 1.50
Robert Mann Gallery: 1.50
Bruce Silverstein Gallery: 1.50
Amador Gallery: 1.40
Throckmorton Fine Art: 1.33
Edwynn Houk Gallery: 1.25
Janet Borden Inc.: 1.20
Howard Greenberg Gallery: 1.20
Bonni Benrubi Gallery: 1.00
Danziger Projects: 1.00
Hasted Hunt Kraeutler/Hasted Kraeutler Gallery: 1.00
Laurence Miller Gallery: 1.00
Yossi Milo Gallery: 1.00
Yancey Richardson Gallery: 1.00
Sputnik Gallery: 1.00
.
1 show (no average)
.
Michael Mazzeo Gallery: 2.00
Commerce Graphics: 1.00
Daniel Cooney Fine Art: 1.00
Keith DeLellis Gallery: 1.00
Foley Gallery: 1.00
Gitterman Gallery: 1.00
Gallery at Hermes: 1.00
Higher Pictures: 1.00
Julie Saul Gallery: 1.00
L. Parker Stevenson: 1.00
Sasha Wolf Gallery: 1.00
Contemporary Art Galleries
.
2 or more shows (average)
Marian Goodman Gallery: 2.50
Pace and PaceWildenstein: 2.33
Matthew Marks Gallery: 2.00
Cheim & Read: 1.67
Sonnabend Gallery: 1.50
David Zwirner: 1.50
Von Lintel Gallery: 1.33
303 Gallery: 1.00
ClampArt: 1.00
Paula Cooper Gallery: 1.00
Gagosian Gallery: 1.00
Gladstone Gallery: 1.00
Sean Kelly Gallery: 1.00
Marvelli Gallery: 1.00
Robert Miller Gallery: 1.00
Winkleman Gallery: 1.00
Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery: 1.00
.
1 show (no average)
.
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery: 2.00
Mary Boone Gallery: 2.00
Andrea Rosen Gallery : 2.00
Bortolami Gallery: 1.00
Kathleen Cullen Gallery: 1.00
Gana Fine Art: 1.00
Murray Guy: 1.00
Stellan Holm Gallery: 1.00
Hous Projects: 1.00
Paul Kasmin Gallery: 1.00
Koenig Projekte: 1.00
Galerie Lelong: 1.00
Luhring Augustine: 1.00
Postmasters: 1.00
Sikkema Jenkins & Co: 1.00
Stux Gallery: 1.00
Sundaram Tagore Gallery: 1.00
Team Gallery: 1.00
Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects: 1.00
UBU Gallery: 1.00
Zabriskie Gallery: 1.00
.
Specialist Photography Museums
2 or more shows (average)
International Center of Photography: 1.67
Art Museums
.
2 or more shows (average)
Museum of Modern Art: 2.00
Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1.80
Whitney Museum of American Art: 1.67
.
1 show (no average)
.
NYPL of the Performing Arts: 3.00
Princeton University Art Museum: 3.00
Jewish Museum: 2.00
Studio Museum in Harlem: 2.00
FLAG Art Foundation: 1.00
Guggenheim Museum: 1.00
Lever House Collection: 1.00
MoMA PS1: 1.00
In my view, an average of over 1.00 for the Photography Specialist galleries is an achievement worth noting (they're putting on photography shows every month remember), and for all other venues, an average of over 1.50 signals something special. It is no surprise to me that the MoMA and Met have such solid ratings numbers, nor that Marian Goodman, Pace, and Matthew Marks came out so high this year. Congratulations to Marian Goodman Gallery for having the highest ratings for photography of any local venue this year.
.
I think these numbers expose an obvious reality in the gallery world: in many cases, top photographers "graduate" from a Photography Specialist gallery to a Contemporary Art gallery when they achieve a certain level of stature. This isn't always true, but the fact that many of the Contemporary Art galleries have such impressive ratings numbers is indicative of cherry picking of the "best" photographers and showing their work from time to time - their overall photography programs are not as consistent, but when they do show photography, the quality tends to be high.
.
A final consideration for these lists is who's conspicuously missing. I went back to my list from 2009 and discovered a large number of well known venues (38) who either failed to attract my attention enough for a review of anything on view this year or were somehow absent from the photography scene entirely. Without naming names or casting aspersions, I very much hope to see a return of superlative photography to these locations in 2011.
.
I've divided the venues into four groups: Specialist Photography Galleries, Contemporary Art Galleries (who show photography from time to time), Specialist Photography Museums and more general Art Museums (who also show photography from time to time). Of course we can quibble about which group a particular gallery belongs in, but I've done my best to locate them where I think they actually belong. I've then made two simple sets of calculations: a raw tally of the total number of shows I reviewed at each venue, and subsequently, the average rating I gave those specific shows.
.
In reviewing these statistics, keep in mind a couple of things: 1.) many of these places have multiple gallery spaces, and often run two or more exhibits simultaneously that I might review as separate and distinct shows, so while a normal gallery calendar might have 6-8 shows in a year, some of these locations have twice that many shows on view across the same period of time, and 2.) our rating scale has a high of 3 STARS and a low of 1 STAR, with shows below that receiving no review/rating; therefore the highest possible average is 3.00, and the lowest is 1.00 - although this low number is misleading, as one could imagine tallying all the shows I didn't review and giving them zeros and then adding them into that average, which would bring the numbers down substantially for many venues. Rather than descend into that kind of negativism ("all the photography shows at Gallery X or Museum Y were crap!"), I suggest we focus on the positive and just take the statistics with a grain of salt.
.
So let's start with the total number of reviews per venue:
Specialist Photography Galleries
Yancey Richardson Gallery: 7
Amador Gallery: 5
Janet Borden Inc.: 5
Howard Greenberg Gallery: 5
Edwynn Houk Gallery: 4
Yossi Milo Gallery: 4
Bruce Silverstein Gallery: 4
Danziger Projects: 3
Hasted Hunt Kraeutler/Hasted Kraeutler Gallery: 3
Pace/MacGill Gallery: 3
Throckmorton Fine Art: 3
Aperture Gallery : 2
Bonni Benrubi Gallery: 2
Robert Mann Gallery: 2
Laurence Miller Gallery: 2
Sputnik Gallery: 2
Commerce Graphics: 1
Daniel Cooney Fine Art: 1
Keith DeLellis Gallery: 1
Foley Gallery: 1
Gitterman Gallery: 1
Gallery at Hermes: 1
Higher Pictures: 1
Michael Mazzeo Gallery: 1
Julie Saul Gallery: 1
L. Parker Stevenson: 1
Sasha Wolf Gallery: 1
Contemporary Art Galleries
Cheim & Read: 3
Gladstone Gallery: 3
Pace and PaceWildenstein: 3
Von Lintel Gallery: 3
303 Gallery: 2
ClampArt: 2
Paula Cooper Gallery: 2
Gagosian Gallery: 2
Marian Goodman Gallery: 2
Sean Kelly Gallery: 2
Matthew Marks Gallery: 2
Marvelli Gallery: 2
Robert Miller Gallery: 2
Sonnabend Gallery: 2
Winkleman Gallery: 2
Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery: 2
David Zwirner: 2
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery: 1
Mary Boone Gallery: 1
Bortolami Gallery: 1
Kathleen Cullen Gallery: 1
Gana Fine Art: 1
Murray Guy: 1
Stellan Holm Gallery: 1
Hous Projects: 1
Paul Kasmin Gallery: 1
Koenig Projekte: 1
Galerie Lelong: 1
Luhring Augustine: 1
Postmasters: 1
Andrea Rosen Gallery : 1
Sikkema Jenkins & Co: 1
Stux Gallery: 1
Sundaram Tagore Gallery: 1
Team Gallery: 1
Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects: 1
UBU Gallery: 1
Zabriskie Gallery: 1
.
Specialist Photography Museums
International Center of Photography: 6
Art Museums
Metropolitan Museum of Art: 5
Museum of Modern Art: 5
Whitney Museum of American Art: 3
FLAG Art Foundation: 1
Guggenheim Museum: 1
Jewish Museum: 1
Lever House Collection: 1
MoMA PS1: 1
NYPL of the Performing Arts: 1
Princeton University Art Museum: 1
Studio Museum in Harlem: 1
I think these numbers are mostly indicative of depth, both in the sophistication of their exhibition programs and the breadth of their stables or curatorial interests. They tally consistent commitment and performance in the staging of solid photography shows, and over time, create a sense of brand, in terms of places that visitors can expect to see quality photography over and over again. I think a score of 4 or higher here is something to be proud of. Congratulations to Yancey Richardson Gallery for putting up the biggest numbers.
.
Now let's turn to the average ratings for shows put on at these venues. I have separated out those venues with only one review, as their "average" score is not as meaningful:
Specialist Photography Galleries
.
2 or more shows (average)
Pace/MacGill Gallery: 1.67
Aperture Gallery : 1.50
Robert Mann Gallery: 1.50
Bruce Silverstein Gallery: 1.50
Amador Gallery: 1.40
Throckmorton Fine Art: 1.33
Edwynn Houk Gallery: 1.25
Janet Borden Inc.: 1.20
Howard Greenberg Gallery: 1.20
Bonni Benrubi Gallery: 1.00
Danziger Projects: 1.00
Hasted Hunt Kraeutler/Hasted Kraeutler Gallery: 1.00
Laurence Miller Gallery: 1.00
Yossi Milo Gallery: 1.00
Yancey Richardson Gallery: 1.00
Sputnik Gallery: 1.00
.
1 show (no average)
.
Michael Mazzeo Gallery: 2.00
Commerce Graphics: 1.00
Daniel Cooney Fine Art: 1.00
Keith DeLellis Gallery: 1.00
Foley Gallery: 1.00
Gitterman Gallery: 1.00
Gallery at Hermes: 1.00
Higher Pictures: 1.00
Julie Saul Gallery: 1.00
L. Parker Stevenson: 1.00
Sasha Wolf Gallery: 1.00
Contemporary Art Galleries
.
2 or more shows (average)
Marian Goodman Gallery: 2.50
Pace and PaceWildenstein: 2.33
Matthew Marks Gallery: 2.00
Cheim & Read: 1.67
Sonnabend Gallery: 1.50
David Zwirner: 1.50
Von Lintel Gallery: 1.33
303 Gallery: 1.00
ClampArt: 1.00
Paula Cooper Gallery: 1.00
Gagosian Gallery: 1.00
Gladstone Gallery: 1.00
Sean Kelly Gallery: 1.00
Marvelli Gallery: 1.00
Robert Miller Gallery: 1.00
Winkleman Gallery: 1.00
Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery: 1.00
.
1 show (no average)
.
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery: 2.00
Mary Boone Gallery: 2.00
Andrea Rosen Gallery : 2.00
Bortolami Gallery: 1.00
Kathleen Cullen Gallery: 1.00
Gana Fine Art: 1.00
Murray Guy: 1.00
Stellan Holm Gallery: 1.00
Hous Projects: 1.00
Paul Kasmin Gallery: 1.00
Koenig Projekte: 1.00
Galerie Lelong: 1.00
Luhring Augustine: 1.00
Postmasters: 1.00
Sikkema Jenkins & Co: 1.00
Stux Gallery: 1.00
Sundaram Tagore Gallery: 1.00
Team Gallery: 1.00
Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects: 1.00
UBU Gallery: 1.00
Zabriskie Gallery: 1.00
.
Specialist Photography Museums
2 or more shows (average)
International Center of Photography: 1.67
Art Museums
.
2 or more shows (average)
Museum of Modern Art: 2.00
Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1.80
Whitney Museum of American Art: 1.67
.
1 show (no average)
.
NYPL of the Performing Arts: 3.00
Princeton University Art Museum: 3.00
Jewish Museum: 2.00
Studio Museum in Harlem: 2.00
FLAG Art Foundation: 1.00
Guggenheim Museum: 1.00
Lever House Collection: 1.00
MoMA PS1: 1.00
In my view, an average of over 1.00 for the Photography Specialist galleries is an achievement worth noting (they're putting on photography shows every month remember), and for all other venues, an average of over 1.50 signals something special. It is no surprise to me that the MoMA and Met have such solid ratings numbers, nor that Marian Goodman, Pace, and Matthew Marks came out so high this year. Congratulations to Marian Goodman Gallery for having the highest ratings for photography of any local venue this year.
.
I think these numbers expose an obvious reality in the gallery world: in many cases, top photographers "graduate" from a Photography Specialist gallery to a Contemporary Art gallery when they achieve a certain level of stature. This isn't always true, but the fact that many of the Contemporary Art galleries have such impressive ratings numbers is indicative of cherry picking of the "best" photographers and showing their work from time to time - their overall photography programs are not as consistent, but when they do show photography, the quality tends to be high.
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A final consideration for these lists is who's conspicuously missing. I went back to my list from 2009 and discovered a large number of well known venues (38) who either failed to attract my attention enough for a review of anything on view this year or were somehow absent from the photography scene entirely. Without naming names or casting aspersions, I very much hope to see a return of superlative photography to these locations in 2011.
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