Down Goes Davidson Contemporary… sort of.

18 August 2008

2 Comments

Seattle Times art critic Shelia Farr is reporting that the Davidson Contemporary will be retreating to its original venue on Occidental Ave, leaving the Tashiro/Kaplan complex. This is the second gallery in 2 months to bail on the T/K, and according to tashirokaplan.com the Davidson space will be the third “gallery” space available at T/K complex.

Is the economy making it too hard to sell art or is the bloom off the rose for the four year old Tashiro/Kaplan complex? It is probably a sum of both. Davidson Contemporary lost director Mike Sweney in 2007 to a project manager position with the Washington State Arts Commission. Shelia Farr’s article states Sam Davidson’s intent ” with the gallery entering its 35th year, it was time to scale back and begin spending weekends at home.“ Sounds like Mike Sweney had that idea a year ago.

The Davidson space is the largest (by square feet) for profit gallery space in the T/K and it will be interesting to see if the space is divided up, or rented by another entity intact. With the Co-op spaces becoming the highlight of the T/K the next few years downtown will be interesting.

2 Comments »

globatron said:

Interesting. I know nothing of the space, gallery, tenants, economy of the art market in Seattle but dang it if that’s not a sweet ass space.

One can dream. I honestly don’t know how galleries stay afloat especially in this economy.

I’d say it’s the economy. Seems to be impacting everything else. I can’t imagine someone having to choose between their mortgage and keeping a gallery afloat or purchasing new works.

Nice coverage from Seattle. Welcome.

- 19 August 2008 at 2:02 am

valuistics said:

Yes it’s probably the economy. It may not be hurting the megarich in ways that we would really appreciate, but it is hurting those quite well-to-do who have been doing quite well the last decade getting others to invest in mortgage based funds and flipping properties, etc. These risk takers may also be the same folks who two or three years ago might have dropped the dime on some pricey original artwork. I’d have to assume that the ultrarich will keep on buying art. It will be interesting to see if less is purchased at this year’s Miami Art Basel or if collectors will start buying cheaper works? I know nothing about the Seattle scene, so thanks for this post. Yay for national coverage!

- 19 August 2008 at 12:26 pm