Having a unique, distinctive, and meaningful voice is key. ‘I always want to mount exhibitions with artists who are making the most important and radical art,’ says Sadie Coles, a leading figure in contemporary art and founder of her namesake gallery in London. Her ambition is noticeable in the gallery’s eclectic yet laser-sharp programming, which includes conceptual tricksters such as Darren Bader and Richard Prince, as well as skilled figurative painters like Isabella Ducrot and Georgia Gardner Gray.
Stefan Benchoam, who runs Proyectos Ultravioleta in Guatemala City, echoes Coles’s sentiment about how he chooses to work with artists. ‘We think less about the market implications, and more about that artist’s ability to push and expand the canon,’ says the gallerist, who represents some of his region’s most esteemed practitioners, including Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa, Vivian Suter, Edgar Calel, and Regina José Galindo.
Coles, who started her business in 1997, insists that expanding one’s roster is key to staying up-to-date. She notes that four of the most recent additions to her program – Karimah Ashadu, Meriem Bennani, Diego Marcon, and Arthur Jafa – all work with film and video. ‘That is in part because I think so much work being made with moving image actually represents our time so brilliantly,’ she adds.
