Famed art dealer, curator, advisor, and now gallerist, Nicola Vassell is making her own table — forget just having a seat! — within the white male-dominated art gallery sector. Vassell has a distinguished resumé and has spent countless years investing in shifting the contemporary art market. Now she is making the next natural step in inaugurating her own eponymous gallery, Nicola Vassell Gallery. With this major feat, Vassell joins a growing initiative of more Black-owned galleries across the nation. She joins an even smaller list of Black women-owned galleries. Historically (and still to this day), Black galleries and art dealers haven’t been given the same access and recognition as their white counterparts when many Black dealers are responsible for introducing the art world to now important and considered canon. Vassell is helping to chip away at the glass ceiling.
Prior to the gallery, Vassell was Principal of Concept NV, a conceptual art consultancy and curatorial agency that specialized in exhibitions and debate on cultural phenomena. In 2015, Vassell was appointed Curatorial Director of The Dean Collection and No Commission, a contemporary family art collection and cultural platform developed by Kasseem “Swizz Beatz“ Dean and Alicia Keys. There she oversaw the acquiring of works for the collection, from Derrick Adams to Jordan Casteel and Kehinde Wiley. So you see, she’s like a pretty big deal!
“Nicola Vassell Gallery is a contemporary art gallery committed to discourse that widens the lens of the history and future of art. Its focus is on developing an intergenerational, cross-disciplinary program of international artists and thinkers.”
The inaugural Nicola Vassell Gallery exhibition is a retrospective of the work of the legendary image maker, Ming Smith. Titled Ming Smith: Evidence, the show will explore the fifty-year career of the photographer featuring a combination of rare, vintage silver gelatin and never-before-exhibited archival prints. Her work depicts the beauty of Black life, Black celebrity (her Grace Jones Studio 54 image lives rent free in our minds), the Black form (illustrated through her infamous blurred silhouette images), as well as the beauty and lyricism of Black community. Smith was the first Black woman photographer to be included in a collection displayed at the Museum of Modern Art. For Vassell to choose Smith to christen her gallery speaks volumes. Black women constantly supporting each other — we absolutely love to see it!
“I am delighted to inaugurate my new gallery with a solo presentation by Ming Smith, an artist I admire greatly. Ming embodies the spirit of the gallery and its journey to inception— the irrepressible quest for truth and beauty. It is my honor to share this moment with her.”
— Nicola Vassell
Ahead of the opening, GRAZIA got a sneak peak of the exhibition. Explore some of the works on display below:
preview of ‘Ming Smith: Evidence’
Ming Smith: Evidence opens today and is on view through July 3, 2021 at the Nicola Vassell Gallery, located at 138 Tenth Avenue, New York, NY.
