Erica C.
Yelp
New York has a crazy art scene. This is where some of the most powerful art brokers in the world live and work. People who can make or break an artist, people who have curated shows with repercussions that have lasted for decades. Barbara Gladstone may very well be one of the few iconic figures of that world. She represents some of the most celebrated names in the art world today: Matthew Barney (of the Cremaster Cycle), Anish Kapoor (remember that concave/convex mirror in Rockefeller?), Shirin Neshat (Iranian filmmaker who won a bunch of awards for Turbulence and Rapture).
In a documentary made about Matthew Barney's project, Drawing Restraint 9 (the one with Bjork), people actually attributed Barney's rise to stardom to Barbara Gladstone's support for his work, early on.
Signature black bob, understated black dress, thin and sharp, Barbara Gladstone even looks the part of the quintessential Chelsea gallery owner. And she knows what she's doing. Some of the shows at the gallery are better than others, but all are very carefully curated.
Last year I saw Anish Kapoor's drawings (weird psychedelic blobby things - interesting, but sort of made you happy he went into sculpture and not drawing), sculptures by Banks Violette (fluorescent lights sticking out of wooden structures), and paintings by Caroll Dunham (underwhelming). Depending on your mood and what's up when you go, it can be fascinating, awe-inspiring, silly, disappointing, or vulgar. It can be hit or miss. But the Gladstone gallery is definitely a New York institution - perhaps not quite as daring as the young upstart galleries in Williamsburg, but worth checking out for sure.
