This private Network event, held on October 26, 2021, convened three renowned art dealers—Kibum Kim of Commonwealth and Council, Friedrich Petzel of Petzel Gallery, and Nicole Russo of Chapter NY Gallery–to hold a roundtable-style conversation around navigating gallery relationships, what it means to be represented, and the role that galleries can play in the sustainability of an artist’s career.

About the panelists:

Kibum Kim works with Commonwealth and Council, a gallery in Koreatown, Los Angeles founded in 2010, whose program is rooted in a commitment to exploring how a community of artists can sustain our co-existence through generosity and hospitality. Commonwealth and Council celebrates our manifold identities and experiences through the shared dialogue of art—championing practices by women, queer, POC, and our ally artists to build counter-histories that reflect our individual and collective realities.

Friedrich Petzel was born in Husum, Germany, and attended the University of Cologne, where he received an MFA in Art History, German Literature, and Philosophy. He entered the art world as a director at Galerie Gisela Capitain, where he focused on prints, drawings, and publishing artist’s books. Petzel moved to New  York in 1991 and worked as a curator and art consultant at Thea Westreich  Associates, as well as a director at Metro Pictures Gallery, before founding Petzel Gallery in 1994.

Nicole Russo founded Chapter NY in 2013 as a weekend-only project space. In 2015 Chapter NY grew into a full-time gallery and began representing artists. Russo brings two decades of gallery experience to actualizing Chapter NY’s program, drawing on her longstanding relationships to encourage ambitious presentations. Russo began her career at Jack Tilton Gallery (2001-07), later worked for Leo Koenig (2007-10), and then served as a Director at Mitchell Innes & Nash (2010-15). Chapter NY’s program includes artists working across a range of media. Represented artists have recently exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; Hammer Museum; the Whitney Museum of American Art; The Bronx Museum of the Arts; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Venice Biennale; Atlanta Contemporary; the Tate Britain; and MoMA PS1, among others.