Leon Neyfakh finds Nicola Vasell at her new post at Pace:
Ms. Vassell explained[:] “At Pace, they’re looking at the next 50 years, and they’re looking at doing what they did before, again-to really be at the edge, at the forefront.”
The desire to change Pace-to revitalize the blue chip gallery’s program by bringing in young artists who are written about in cool magazines, championed by cool curators and supported by cool collectors-is coming from founder Arne Glimcher’s 46-year-old son, Marc, who serves as Pace’s president. Mr. Glimcher is on the record saying he wants to take the gallery in a new direction, and hiring Ms. Vassell, in addition to four other new directors who were brought aboard in the past year and a half, was a key component of that effort. Another was splitting Pace from old master, Impressionist, and Post-Impressionist gallery Wildenstein & Company, its partner of 17 years, in a move that was announced earlier this year.
“Pace is like a giant-it has an extraordinary history and one of the most impeccable reputations in the business,” said Ms. Vassell on Friday, flipping admiringly through a handsomely illustrated book covering the gallery’s first forty years in business. “Obviously, they’re now looking at how to re-create that kind of magic in 21st-century terms. I think they’ve been going about it in a very elegant way.”
Art Dealers Re-Up (NY Observer)
