In the world of startups, the typical route looks like this: raise the initial capital, scale up, and if luck smiles, sell a large part of the team to a large group while remaining in charge as the guardian of the vision, the manager of the strategy, who benefits from paying the money. It’s a Silicon Valley document that treats it as a rite of passage and a testament to corporate maturity and integration. In the world of art, however, this progress is considered a little suspicious, as if small galleries are intended to grow into large works and are expected to compete on the same level as global exhibitions, museum documentation and international programs from day one.
Yet small galleries not only act unfairly as start-ups but also act as start-up incubators, developing emerging artistic talent by underwriting early risks and investing years of work and capital into artists with uncertain returns. They operate in a dynamic, borderless market that moves at the speed of the world, often with boutique facilities and family staff. The difference is that while tech startups are clearly looking for strategic partnerships and exits, creative startups are still expected to grow organically into giants—no acquisitions, no safety net, just belief.
The financial pressure of this particularly distorted ecosystem has already pushed several medium and small galleries to close, while other dealers are ready to try to stay afloat. Surviving in the current market environment increasingly requires collaboration, sharing resources, talent and market share. One of the most promising aspects of this model is veteran marketers joining forces with smaller voices who can bring vitality, new ideas, new flavors and new networks to more established legacy platforms.
Yesterday (March 3), veteran New Yorker Marc Straus announced the merger of such a gallery: well described as “combining the forces of the new future,” Straus joins the young, Graham Wilson, founder of the five-year-old Swivel Gallery. As Straus celebrates his gallery’s 15th anniversary, Wilson becomes the first partner in a generational merger that creates the consolidation of funds in one and continuity in the other. “Graham has a great eye. His program is fresh and smart. Combining my experience and enthusiasm and his vision is a huge opportunity. And we both work incredibly hard. It’s harder than most,” Straus told the Observer.
“I’ve been collecting carefully for 60 years,” he said, showing a 1970 yellow and red Ellsworth Kelly—his third prize—and works by Bruce and Susan Rothenberg. “I started when I was in medical school, which keeps me busy and I like to see new art.” However, he admits that the situation in the country has grown significantly in the last ten years. He remembers standing often by Wilson’s booth at art shows, thinking, I don’t know any of this work, but I really like all of it. A different eye. He talks about this job freely. He really loves what he shows. That appealed to me a lot.”
Straus began to consider hiring workers. I had never imagined such a meeting, then the door opened, and we started talking. The collaboration was also shaped by a pragmatic vision informed by his previous experience in the medical industry, where he ran large medical practices and academic departments and supervised as many as 300 doctors. “In medicine, forming partnerships is the norm. Only the art world is irrational. The industry is resistant to new voices.”
Informing this important decision was his previous experience transforming struggling medical practices. “First, you improve the quality of care for patients. Then you improve the business,” he explains. “We’re doing the same thing—reinforcing the vision and the list, and then building a structure around it.”
Wilson frames integration as a complementary rather than a redemptive function. “Marc has built an amazing list of established artists,” he told the Observer. “We’re bringing in young, up-and-coming artists, and new energy. The mix keeps things moving. It keeps the show responsive to what’s happening now.”
Their relationship begins with a spontaneous spirit of cooperation. “For the past few years, I’ve delivered works from Marc’s gallery to my clients,” explains Wilson. We became friends that way, and we’ve always been friends.”
“Graham was different from everyone else,” Straus confirmed. He would come in with a good client and focus on delivering the best work. That was the way he handled the relationship. That impressed him.
For Wilson, the change comes after five years of running a small studio at Swivel Gallery, which he founded in 2021 in a small, curved-walled gallery in Bed-Stuy. Since then, in 2023, the gallery expanded into a 5,000-square-foot industrial space in Bushwick, replacing the historic CLEARING gallery at 396 Johnson Avenue. Just one year later, in September 2024, Swivel Gallery arrived in Manhattan, opening its current location at 55 Green Street. In that context, Wilson has cultivated a strong line-up of new voices from around the world addressing the most pressing themes of their generation, creating a platform for global dialogue and conflict. Several Swivel artists have grown significantly in recent years, resulting in the purchase of institutions and exhibitions, especially in rising names such as Simon Benjamin, Amy Bravo and Alejandro Garcia Contreras.
In contrast, Straus’s approach to gallery management has been heavily influenced by his decades of collecting contemporary art, leading to a strong commitment to supporting artists at the beginning of their careers. Since opening his first gallery in 2011 on the Lower East Side after leaving his 35-year career in oncology, Straus has been among the first to hold solo shows by artists such as Jeffrey Gibson while also representing the first presentations of internationally acclaimed contemporary artists, including Renée Stout, Márton Nemes and Anne Samat. He also introduced established US artists such as Sandro Chia, Rona Pondick and Hermann Nitsch. In addition to his gallery work, Straus’ personal collection has been featured in 13 museum exhibitions. In 2014, he and his wife, Livia, founded the Hudson Valley MOCA in Peekskill, NY, a museum that combines works by renowned artists from its collection with pieces by local and emerging talent, further expanding Straus’ commitment to fostering a vibrant and inclusive art community.
“We’re both in this for the love of it,” Straus said. “But you also have to keep the business financially viable. That’s a big challenge.” Since COVID, he notes, about half of the galleries on the Lower East Side have closed. He can’t talk about math. “The cost is almost a punishment for the galleries,” he said. “Shipping has more than doubled since COVID. Every day, we face new challenges.”
He points to structural imbalances between markets. “We have a few artists who also show in Berlin. The rent there is about one-sixth of New York City,” he points out. “When you apply in New York, you’re not just going up against a lot of powerful galleries—you’re dealing with extraordinary costs. I still think it’s the best place to be in the world.”
Despite rising prices and concerns about global instability, in October 2024, Straus announced an expansion with a second 4,000-square-foot location at 57 Walker in Tribeca, New York City’s latest hot gallery hub. Straus describes himself as fortunate to own a four-story gallery on the Lower East Side, which helps reduce risk and cost, and to secure the first lease on Walker Street in Tribeca. “Opportunities like this don’t come along very often. They put my artists and Graham’s artists on top.”
For Wilson, the relationship reads like an opportunity to grow not only for himself but also for the artists he nurtured at Swivel. “As a young, dynamic dealer, I’m very excited to work with Marc,” he says. “He brings years of experience in the art industry.” We have a lot to learn, and a great future ahead.”
When asked if the merger also reflects long-term planning—the property strategy, the succession, the future of the gallery beyond its founder—Straus pauses. “Twenty-eight years ago, our collection began a three-year tour of museums,” he recalls. “Livia and I taught each lesson. The first night, there were over 300 people. I wasn’t even 60. And someone stood up and asked, ‘What do you intend to do with your collection later?’ I said, ‘What do you mean? We’re still young.’”
For him, the idea that people should make their own inheritance creates all kinds of obstacles. Straus draws parallels to his medical career: he practiced oncology for nearly 40 years, ran major medical school programs and led a large practice, often working what he calls astronomical hours. He says: “When it seemed like it was time to stop, the real difficulty was the patients who didn’t want me to stop. It was difficult, but in the end he admitted that he couldn’t anymore, as he had given everything he could.
As for the gallery, he resists framing the collection as an official succession plan. “We want to do everything we can to move forward,” he said. “And if, over time, Graham becomes the leading voice in the gallery, that would be healthy for everyone.”
On March 19, in the four-story space 299 Grand Street, the gallery will open an extensive exhibition curated by Wilson, which brings together the artists of the Swivel Gallery in conversation with the existing list. As for the plan going forward, Straus and Wilson have already made changes and are creating the 2027 plan together.
As for the exhibitions, the new partnership will begin with a prime placement at EXPO Chicago, securing a large booth at Navy Pier, where the two programs will receive a selected combination. “We put it together easily,” Straus said. “It will feel different because it combines both programs. The way these two ideas come together makes a lot of sense to me.”
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