What are the opening hours?

Tuesday 11am - 6pm Wednesday 11am - 6pm Thursday 11am - 6pm Friday 11am - 6pm Saturday 10am - 6pm

Sean Kelly Gallery

Home
United States
New York, NY
Sean Kelly Gallery

A contemporary art gallery founded in 1991 with locations in New York City and Los Angeles. Contemporary Art Gallery in New York and Los Angeles.

Since its inception in 1991, Sean Kelly Gallery has been internationally regarded for its diverse, intellectually driven program and a highly regarded roster of artists. The gallery has garnered international attention for its high caliber exhibition program and collaboration with many of the most significant cultural institutions around the world. The gallery opened its first public space at 43 M

ercer Street. During these formative years, it established a reputation for diverse, intellectually driven, unconventional exhibitions. The original list of artists represented; Marina Abramović, James Casebere, Callum Innes, Joseph Kosuth and Julião Sarmento (1948-2021), all of whom are still represented by the gallery today, exemplified the Gallery’s commitment to presenting important and challenging contemporary art. In 2001, Sean Kelly moved to a converted 7,000 square-foot industrial space on 29th Street in the Chelsea gallery district. The spacious location enabled the Gallery to mount increasingly ambitious, museum-quality exhibitions to great critical acclaim. The Gallery’s roster of artists expanded to include Rebecca Horn, Frank Thiel, Laurent Grasso, Peter Liversidge, Anthony McCall, Alec Soth, and Kehinde Wiley. In October 2012, Sean Kelly opened its current 22,000 square foot space at 475 Tenth Avenue in a historic 1914 building. With the gallery’s expansion into the new space, Sean Kelly added internationally acclaimed artists to its roster; David Claerbout, José Dávila, Candida Höfer, Ilse D’Hollander, Idris Khan, Hugo McCloud, Mariko Mori, Liu Wei, and Sun Xun. Sean Kelly has continued to expand its program to include a new generation of exceptional contemporary artists such as Dawoud Bey, Julian Charrière, Landon Metz, Sam Moyer, Shahzia Sikander, Janaina Tschäpe and Wu Chi-Tsung. Over the course of more than thirty years, the Gallery has become a symbol for high quality, thought-provoking contemporary art and conversation, most recently with the launch of Collect Wisely in May 2018. Collect Wisely is a provocative media campaign designed to encourage lively conversation around topics of collecting and connoisseurship. At the heart of this initiative is the Collect Wisely podcast, a series of interviews in which Sean Kelly discusses with collectors their passion for art, artists, and a passion for collecting and connoisseurship. On September 17, 2022, the Gallery opened a major new space in Los Angeles.

01/04/2025

Art Historian Éric de Chassey beautifully highlights the unique qualities of Callum Innes’ Tondo series describing it as “calling the viewer’s attention to what is physically happening on the surface (and inviting him or her to revel in its beauty) and presenting it as a place where a story has already occurred (the story of the painting’s making) and from where a story can unfold (the story of the viewer’s feelings and interpretations).”

To create his Exposed Paintings, layers of paint are laid down on the meticulously gessoed panels and ultimately covered in black. Innes then uses turpentine to remove the layers from sections of the painting, revealing the luminous color that lies underneath. This process is repeated several times, alternating between application and removal. The result reveals varied veils of color buried within the seemingly monochromatic single pigment. In the Exposed Paintings, the residue from this process is left on the surface directly below the “exposed” section, creating another layer of color altogether.

Image: , Exposed Painting Sapphire Blue, 2022, oil on Birch Ply, 70 7/8 x 68 7/8 inches © Callum Innes Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

01/03/2025

Just a few weeks left to visit Candida Höfer’s Europa / America at Sean Kelly, Los Angeles ⏳

Inspired by German-Prussian architect Erich Mendelsohn’s 1929 publication, Russland Europa Amerika: Ein architektonischer Querschnitt (An Architectural Cross Section), Architects Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee have selected ten photographs taken by Höfer between 1993 and 2015.

Through Höfer’s carefully composed photographs of interior spaces primarily intended for entertainment, study, and worship, Europa / America explores sites that convey social significance in North American and European society. This novel grouping reveals a compelling impulse throughout Höfer’s oeuvre: to capture how architecture illuminates the cultural histories of a particular time and place.

Images: , Uffizi Firenze III 2008, 2022, C-print, paper: 70 7/8 x 60 1/4 inches, framed: 72 9/16 x 61 15/16 x 2 inches © Candida Höfer, Köln / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024 Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles; Installation view of Candida Höfer: Europa / America at Sean Kelly, Los Angeles, November 2, 2024 – January 11, 2025, Photography: Brica Wilcox, Courtesy: Sean Kelly New York/Los Angeles

01/02/2025

As we welcome the New Year, it’s an opportune time to embrace the idea of grounding through the lens of Marina Abramović’s Transitory Objects.

Following her significant 1988 walk along the Great Wall of China, Abramović’s work has consistently invited public engagement, emphasizing that art transcends mere observation. Her Shoes for Departure, intricately crafted from quartz crystal, embodies a profound invitation to explore mental rather than solely physical movement.

“All the transitory objects have one thing in common: they do not exist on their own; the public must interact with them,” said Abramović.

Images: , Shoes for Departure, 1991/2017, quartz crystal, 8 1/4 x 20 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches, 8 5/8 x 21 1/4 x 10 inches © Marina Abramović Courtesy: the Marina Abramović Archives and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

12/27/2024

“I was raised with this idealization of labor and hard work, and with the stone I often think about the labor and the material and the history that it experienced and where it came from. Every remnant I work with has two parallel timelines: the geological history and the more recent marks of us–the overcut from a saw, a salt stain from a winter outdoors, a fossil imprint, a pattern created by compressed iron” - Sam Moyer

Sam Moyer’s artistic practice seamlessly intertwines the domains of abstraction and materiality, inviting viewers to engage with her work on both a visual and tactile level. Her pieces, often characterized by an innovative use of everyday materials such as canvas and raw materials, challenge traditional notions of sculpture. Moyer’s unique ability to blend these textures creates a compelling aesthetic and stimulates dialogue about the relationship between form and function.

Images: , Witch Vine, 2024, marble, acrylic on plaster-coated canvas mounted to MDF, 40 x 60 x 1 inches © Sam Moyer Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

12/26/2024

Staying in town for the holidays? View Janaina Tschäpe’s Fios Sois Sobre o Ermo (Color Threads) in The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition, on view through January 26, 2025, at the Brooklyn Museum. The exhibition features artists living and/or working in Brooklyn honoring the borough’s dynamic present, storied past, and bright future.

Inspired by minute details often overlooked in nature, such as changes in light, the movement of leaves, the rushing of water and the movement of the wind, Tschäpe translates these sensations into a distinctive language of abstraction rooted in deeply personal experience, yet open to interpretation. Tschäpe’s works become sites of intense emotional and intellectual inquiry—the space between passion and reason—where the act of painting is both a meditation on and a resistance to its constraints.

Images: Installation view, The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition. Brooklyn Museum, October 4, 2024-January 26, 2025. (Photo: Timothy Doyon)

12/23/2024

“Our brain is this library of images that stay with us throughout our lifetime. When we see an image whose subject has been erased, we do a natural exercise of going back to the pictures we have stored in our head and filling in the blank; it’s really this idea of seeing something, even though it’s not there... The image that will come to mind for me, will be different from the one you recall—there is a gap in our visual experience, which is what makes this really interesting.” - Jose Dávila

L’Atelier Rouge features a small retrospective of Matisse’s paintings, sculptures, and ceramics, displayed in his studio. The painting appears in color and detail, while the room’s architecture and furnishings are indicated only by negative gaps in the red surface. In Jose Dávila’s cut-out, he takes it a step further by removing the artworks from the composition leaving only what remains. Appropriating recognizable imagery, Dávila unabashedly deletes the central subject creating dialogue about the power of negative space.

Images: , Untitled (L’Atelier Rouge), 2024, archival pigment print, diptych, each frame: 86 5/8 x 51 5/8 x 3 inches, overall: 86 5/8 x 104 7/16 x 3 inches © Jose Dávila Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

12/22/2024

“My attempts to conquer the unconquerable set of challenges presented by the inherent difficulty of clay and glaze is an ongoing battle... I love the balance between these elements, which is why clay and glaze are my prime choice of material. It’s a constant tension that drives my work forward, one work feeding into the next, with the evolution being the most exciting.” - Brain Rochefort

At the core of Brian Rochefort’s artistic process lies a blend of creation and destruction. Beginning with unfired clay, Rochefort employs a method that involves layering each object with a variety of colorants and glazes, infusing each object with an element of spontaneous uncertainty. Through meticulous airbrushing and the use of proprietary glazes and techniques of his own invention, Rochefort transforms his sculptures into chromatically rich marvels, reminiscent of natural formations found in subterranean cave systems and marine habitats.

Central to Rochefort’s artistic vision is the exploration of otherworldly surfaces and forms. His sculptures often feature interior spaces adorned with pooled glazes and melted glass, evoking the mysterious depths of subterranean landscapes.

Images: , African Fruit, 2024, ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches © Brian Rochefort Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

12/20/2024

Drawing inspiration from Erich Mendelsohn’s seminal work, *Russland Europa Amerika: Ein architektonischer Querschnitt*, Candida Höfer’s Europa / America delves into the profound social significance of architectural spaces across North America and Europe. Mendelsohn’s exploration of architecture as a narrative medium resonates deeply in Höfer’s work, where each photograph serves as a lens through which viewers can examine not only the physical structures but also the cultural narratives they embody.

Höfer meticulously composes her images to highlight each space’s intricate details and unique characteristics, encouraging contemplation on how these interiors reflect historical contexts and societal values. Her photographs go beyond mere representations; they invite an introspective dialogue about our shared environments and collective histories.

In the exhibition, viewers are encouraged to reflect on the ways in which these varied architectural settings enhance our comprehension of identity, community, and culture. The spaces captured by Höfer reveal layers of meaning that speak to both specific local histories and broader interconnected experiences that transcend geographical boundaries.

Images: Installation view of Candida Höfer: Europa / America at Sean Kelly, Los Angeles, November 2, 2024 – January 11, 2025, Photography: Brica Wilcox, Courtesy: Sean Kelly New York/Los Angeles

12/19/2024

Throwback Thursday! A look back at some of the fun events during Art Basel Miami Beach with our friends at The Cultivist and Family Style.

Images: Family Style and Cartier Celebrate Art Basel Miami Beach Hippolyte Petit/BFA.com; The Cultivist Annual Artist Lunch 2025 Miguel McSongwe/BFA.com; Capital One and The Cultivist presents DAR MIAMI 1446 by Hassaj Hajjaj Victor Arriola/BFA.com © BFA 2024

12/18/2024

“The relationship I establish with the people I photograph is a momentarily intimate one, not a sustained one born out of an interest in engaging with the person in order to make something that represents them in the world.” - Dawoud Bey

Currently, on view at The Denver Art Museum, Dawoud Bey’s Street Portraits present the complete series comprised of 35 black and white portraits. From 1988 to 1991, Bey collaborated with Black Americans, of all ages, whom he met on the streets of various American cities for his Street Portraits.

Bey asked a cross-section of people in these communities to pose for him, creating a space of self-presentation and performance in their urban environments. Using a large format tripod-mounted camera and unique positive/negative Polaroid film, Bey created both an instant print and a reusable negative. For Bey, photography is an ethical practice that requires collaboration between the artist and his sitters. To reciprocate with the individuals who posed for him, he gave each person a small black-and-white Polaroid print.

Images: Installation view of : Street Portraits at the Denver Art Museum, November 17, 2024 – May 11, 2025, © Dawoud Bey Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

12/16/2024

This is the final week to view Artificialis, Laurent Grasso’s sixth solo exhibition with the gallery.

Grasso’s oeuvre blurs the line between temporalities, combining historical references and futuristic anticipations to create new, ambiguous, realities. The exhibition features the US premiere of Grasso’s films, ARTIFICIALIS and Orchid Island, along with two groups of new paintings related to each film. One of the series draws inspiration from the prominent 19th century American artist Frederic Edwin Church’s evocative landscape paintings of the Hudson River Valley. The exhibition confronts the rapid changes and existential challenges of our world where human cultural impact on nature is now indelible; it places viewers in a realm where distinguishing between the real and the artificial is questioned.

Image: Installation view of Laurent Grasso: Artificialis at Sean Kelly, New York, October 25 – December 21, 2024, Photography: Adam Reich, Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

12/15/2024

Composed of thousands of images from individually hand-carved woodcuts, Sun Xun’s 3-D animated film Time Spy employs imagery of traditional Chinese themes in a symbolic exploration of the nature of time and how we try to make sense of it.

Drawing inspiration from a visit to the town of Le Brassus, Xun describes it as one of the best places on Earth to watch the stars. “The people that watch the stars stop thinking about life. Space is huge but we are limited…. Only Time can be both huge and limited…. This is my starting point,” said Xun. This woodcut panel provides insight into not only the artist’s creative process but also the seemingly magical ability of film to transpose concrete form into ephemeral imagery.

Image: , Time Spy 08, 2016, woodcut painting, panel: 36 x 71 3/4 inches, framed: 53 5/8 x 89 1/2 x 5 7/8 inches Photo: Jason Wyche © Sun Xun Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

12/14/2024

We’re excited to announce the release of Hugo McCloud’s Porter Bags, now available for purchase. Merging art and function, these handcrafted bags exemplify McCloud’s innovative approach to materials and design.

Made with the same meticulous attention to detail that defines his studio practice, each bag is a one-of-a-kind work of art, blending industrial textures with striking, modern aesthetics.

Visit to explore the collection.

Limited to 200 bags
Each bag is 1 of 1

12/14/2024

“It really stimulates you to think about scale. You think you’re singular, but when you look at it in the large scale, you’re part of it... We come from this natural cycle, and we’re part of the universe—part of a whole.” - Mariko Mori

These captivating photo-paintings by Mariko Mori, utilize pastel pigments to evoke a sense of ethereality while delving deep into existential themes tied to particle physics and cosmic theory. Inspired by the Japanese deity Ame-no-Minakanushi, Mori invites us to reconsider our place within this vast universe.

By bridging metaphysical concepts with everyday experiences, Mori creates an intimate connection between the individual and the cosmos capturing the microscopic multiverse of nature’s invisible energy.

Image: , Unity VII, 2024, UV cured pigment, Dibond and aluminum, diameter: 63 1/2 inches, depth: 3 inches © Mariko Mori Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

12/13/2024

“As I traveled around, I found amazing buildings in the most inconspicuous of places... Locals live their day-to-day lives amid marvels.” - Candida Höfer

Through Höfer’s carefully composed photographs of interior spaces primarily intended for entertainment, study, and worship, Europa / America explores sites that convey social significance in North American and European society. The geographic dichotomy and shift mirrors Höfer’s journey in documenting North American spaces, after years of focusing on her native Europe. Despite this dichotomy, the photographs are united by Höfer’s distinct attention to symmetry, lighting, and an evocation of both vastness and intimacy, transforming each location into its own, complex world.

Image: , Museum of Modern Art New York XII 2001, C-print, paper: 59 13/16 x 76 1/2 inches, framed: 61 1/2 x 78 3/16 x 2 inches Photo: Brica Wilcox © Candida Höfer, Köln / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024 Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles; Installation view of Candida Höfer: Europa / America at Sean Kelly, Los Angeles, November 2, 2024 – January 11, 2025, Photography: Brica Wilcox, Courtesy: Sean Kelly New York/Los Angeles

12/12/2024

Sean Kelly, Los Angeles is delighted to announce Keep Your Wonder Moving, the West Coast debut of Chicago-based artist Lindsay Adams and her inaugural solo exhibition with the gallery. Titled after a note written by poet Patricia Spears Jones to philosopher Audre Lorde, the exhibition, presented on the third floor, consists of eleven abstract paintings. Keep Your Wonder Moving emphasizes the artist’s longstanding interest in world-building – Adams’ exploration of abstraction as a conduit for expanding the imagination while embedding deeply personal narratives. The exhibition opens on Saturday, January 18 from 5 - 7 PM. The artist will be present.

Adams’ work interrogates the boundaries of abstraction and representation, seamlessly weaving together the materiality of paint with the intangibility of memory and cultural identity. Her layered approach—where pigments are built up, washed away, or otherwise manipulated—imbues each canvas with a sense of flux, reflecting her assertion that painting is as much alchemical as it is artistic. Her process leaves behind not only a complex surface, but also an ambiguity that invites sustained contemplation.

Image caption: , Rhythm With Blues, 2024, oil on canvas 84 x 72 x 1 3/4 inches © Lindsay Adams Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

12/11/2024

Laurent Grasso’s The Studies into the Past series is a vast conceptual project that has developed throughout his career and explores anachronistic motifs. Iconic references from historical eras are mixed with strange, celestial phenomena such as eclipses, meteorites, clouds, and spheres. This blend of past, present, and future aims to produce a sense of confusion in the viewer and a false historical memory.

Reproducing phenomena seen in Grasso’s film ARTIFICIALIS, such as flaming torches and Northern Lights, these new paintings from his Studies into the Past series are inspired by the prominent 19th-century American artist Frederic Edwin Church’s evocative landscape paintings of the Hudson River Valley.

Image: , Studies into the Past, oil on wood, 13 3/4 x 19 11/16 x 2 3/16 inches Photo: Florent Chevrot © Laurent Grasso / ADAGP, Paris, 2024 Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles; Installation view of Laurent Grasso: Artificialis at Sean Kelly, New York, October 25 – December 21, 2024, Photography: Adam Reich, Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

12/10/2024

Sean Kelly, New York is delighted to present Bruma, Ana González’s first solo exhibition in New York. The paintings and tapestries on view in Bruma depict the flora and fauna of González’s native Colombia and represent the ecosystems under threat from industries seeking to exploit them for their natural resources.

González’s practice opposes the disappearance of these habitats, not only warning us of what will be lost in their destruction but proposing new ways to relate to the natural world. Bruma engages with the vast ecological and human history of these landscapes encouraging the viewer to see our environment in a new way. There will be an opening from 6 to 8 pm. The artist will be present.

Images: , QUIMBAYA (SACRED HOUSE), 2024, sublimation printing on roughened tarp, each: 97 5/8 x 48 13/16 inches, overall: 97 5/8 x 244 1/16 inches © Ana González Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

Address

475 10th Avenue
New York, NY
10018

Opening Hours

Tuesday	11am - 6pm
Wednesday	11am - 6pm
Thursday	11am - 6pm
Friday	11am - 6pm
Saturday	10am - 6pm

Telephone

+12122391181

Website

http://www.skny.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Sean Kelly Gallery posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Sean Kelly Gallery

01/04/2025

01/03/2025

01/02/2025

12/27/2024

12/26/2024

12/23/2024

12/22/2024

12/20/2024

12/19/2024

12/18/2024

12/16/2024

12/15/2024

12/14/2024

12/14/2024

12/13/2024

12/12/2024

12/11/2024

12/10/2024

Address

Opening Hours

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category