Hauser & Wirth, 23 Savile Row, London W1S 2ET
www.hauserwirth.com Instagram: @hauserwirth
Hauser & Wirth was founded in 1992 in Zurich by Iwan Wirth, Manuela Wirth, and Ursula Hauser. It has, of course, expanded rapidly since opening in a second city – London – in 2003, and is now a worldwide business representing over 90 artists and estates through 18 locations, the other British one being in Somerset. The London programme was initiated in a former bank in Piccadilly, which proved a characterful location for a decade of exhibitions: those by Paul McCarthy, Isa Genzken, Jason Rhoades and Phyllida Barlow remain among the best commercial shows this century. Since 2010, Hauser & Wirth’s London base has been two near-neighbouring, more conventional spaces on Savile Row, most often used for separate shows rather than the solo blockbusters.
Next year, the gallery plans to take on an additional London space further west in Mayfair, in South Audley Street. Louise Bourgeois, Philip Guston, Fausto Melotti have perhaps been the most memorable in the Savile Row space, along with Mark Wallinger – unusual, I think, in having left the gallery subsequently.
A nice touch extra is the annual summer hosting of the Hospital Rooms programme. Roberto Cuoghi, Guillermo Kuitca, Lee Bul and Mika Rottenberg are among the artists I’d like to see given a London solo… Rottenberg does actually feature in the current North Gallery programme, unusual in that it turns the space into a cinema showing alternating weekly programmes of 1 hr 40 minutes with 19 artists in total. Complementing that, in the South Gallery, is Michaela Yearwood-Dan, one of quite a few artists taken on recently, keeping the programme fresh.
London’s gallery scene is varied, from small artist-run spaces to major institutions and everything in between. Each week, art writer and curator Paul Carey-Kent gives a personal view of a space worth visiting.
