As San Francisco gallerist John Berggruen unveils the first solo Bridget Riley exhibition in S.F., motion is on his mind. This historical survey features the pioneering Op-art painter's psychedelic works-illusions ofpulsating movement through color. But Riley's kinetic the energy isn't only thing prompting momentum: Accelerated by the reborn San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and its soaring Snøhetta-designed expansion, the gallerist and his wife and partner, Gretchen-reigning luminaries among West Coast modern-art dealers-will decamp in August from their namesake Grant Avenue digs, an anchor of the Union Square gallery scene. With business partner Sarah Wendell (formerly a vice president at Christie's and the gallery's first president), they've staked their claim on Hawthorne Street, across from SFMOMA's new lobby, in a three-story 1908 brick building that Jennifer Weiss Architecture and team are redesigning for a fall opening.
They'll be in good company: Global gallerist Larry Gagosian, a close friend of Berggruen for 40 years, is slated to open his first S.F. gallery (and 16th location) next door in the historic Crown Point Press building on May 18. Gagosian's inaugural exhibition explores the relationship between drawing and sculpture, as embodied in the work of 20th-century artists.
Gagosian's arrival signals a healthy art market, albeit one sited on real estate rearranged by tech-boom tremors, hence the artistic exodus from the tony but très cher Union Square. Yet rising rents didn't inform Berggruen's move. The reopening and drastic expansion of SFMOMA acted as a catalyst for a transition that's been in the works for quite some time. After 45 years on the same street, the perfect opportunity finally presented itself. "Between the new SFMOMA and Silicon Valley-San Francisco economies, there's a revitalized art-world energy," Berggruen enthuses. "The collector base here is unique: from young millennials buying their first Ellsworth Kelly or Thiebaud print rising up to the Fisher Family level, whose collection now stars at SFMOMA. It's rather amazing."
