As Switzerland Slowly Reopens, Dealer Eva Presenhuber Is Forging Ahead With Plans to Open a New Zurich Gallery Next Month

Despite the ongoing lockdown in the US and many other parts of
the world, veteran art dealer Evan Presenhuber is moving ahead with
plans to launch a third gallery in Zurich in early June.

“There was no going back,” Presenhuber told
Artnet News in an email. Presenhuber had always admired the
space—previously a gallery on Waldmannstrasse run by Jamileh
Weber—so when it became available earlier this year, she jumped on
it. Great spaces in that part of Zurich are hard to come by, she
says.”

“This was all
before the coronavirus escalated in Europe and we could imagine the
impact it would have on our lives and businesses,” Presenhuber
says. “The shutdown came a month later; I had signed the contract
and started to renovate.”

“It is a very peculiar situation to expand
during a worldwide crisis,” she acknowledges. However, she
is grateful she remains able to
move forward.

On June 5, the gallery will open with a show of
work by Sue Williams, an artist Presenhuber has worked with since
1993. The new gallery will also host
solo presentations by American artists Joe Bradley and Alex Hubbard
later this year.

Noting that Weber had previously hosted critically acclaimed exhibitions in the space by artists
including Georg Baselitz, Frank Stella, and Robert Rauschenberg,
Presenhuber says she looks forward to having “more exceptional
exhibitions at the [new venue] and in our Maag Areal and
Rämistrasse galleries, where our visitors will be able to see solo
shows by Martin Boyce, Shara Hughes, Wyatt Kahn, and Ugo Rondinone
before the end of 2020.”

Noting that Switzerland was hit hard
by the pandemic, along with many other European countries,
Presenhuber adds: “It really is hard for the galleries not to have
Art Basel happen. Considering the circumstances, the Swiss
government did a great job and the people have been disciplined. I
am really happy that on May 11 all museums in Switzerland can
reopen and that we can visit the shows that have been closed for
seven weeks now.”

The post As Switzerland Slowly Reopens, Dealer Eva
Presenhuber Is Forging Ahead With Plans to Open a New Zurich
Gallery Next Month appeared first on artnet News.