Art's Next Frontier

Over the past year, major galleries have launched a string of pop-up spaces around the US. Now, one of them is looking to Asia

- Oliver Giles

Last winter, after a year in which countless companies were forced to close, some of the world’s leading galleries announced that they were not only still open for business, they were expanding.

Lévy Gorvy, White Cube and Lehmann Maupin were three of the big-name galleries to open pop-up spaces over Christmas in Palm Beach, the sleepy Florida town where many of America’s billionaires spend the colder months. These temporary outposts were the latest effort by gallerists to bring art directly to collectors, many of whom had fled their primary homes in New York for second homes in ski resorts or seaside towns during the pandemic. Earlier in the year, pop-ups also appeared in the Hamptons and Aspen.

Now, the phenomenon has come to Asia. This summer, Lehmann Maupin is opening a pop-up in Taipei, which will run for roughly two months, Covid-19 restrictions permitting. It is the first international gallery to launch a seasonal space in the region.

“I love the pop-up model,” says Rachel Lehmann, whose gallery has permanent outposts in New York, London and Seoul. “I think it’s a great formula and I’m very curious what our first Asian pop-up will bring. If it works in Taiwan, I can see us expanding it to other areas in Asia—and not only East Asia.”