“You have to know when it’s the right time to open, to close, to maybe come back,” Margot Samel told a rapt audience yesterday, as CULTURED filled a club room at Soho House for the magazine’s first Young Dealers panel.
Ahead of the launch of CULTURED’s inaugural Young Dealers list, the founders of two featured galleries, Margot Samel and Ulrik, sat down with moderator and CULTURED contributing writer Melissa Smith for a wide-ranging conversation about building a program, weathering turns in the market, and learning how to wear the many hats galleries require.
During the event we served their signature Aplós cocktails: Mandora Negroni, Kola Fashioned, Chili Margarita, and Ume Spritz. Which were poured over ice from a can. Just a different product line than what you have listed
Attendees filed into the intimate space for non-alcoholic cocktails from presenting partner Aplós, including Mandora Negroni, Kola Fashioned, Chili Margarita, and Ume Spritz, which were poured over ice. Chatter rose above the bartenders’ clinking and shaking as guests flipped through the latest issue of the magazine and peppered the panelists with questions.
Once up on stage, Ulrik gallerists Alex Fleming and Anya Komar introduced their historically minded, deeply personal program. “People from the outside tell us it’s all historical shows,” said Komar with a laugh, before Fleming added an account of some of the gallery's relationships with its artists, spanning years and going far beyond the walls of the gallery space. Samel, for her part, added, “One of the reasons that I didn’t want to open a gallery earlier was because I felt like one of the last things New York needs is another gallery, unless you have something to offer that isn’t here already. I realized there wasn’t a single U.S. gallery that represents artists from Estonia, for example. I do.”
When the conversation was wrapped, cocktails began to flow once again, and a few attendees rushed to the stage with even more questions for the gallerists. Rest assured readers, with the imminent launch of our Young Dealers list next week, we’ve got plenty more coming your way.
