LAUNCH

A new contemporary art gallery, Friedrichs Pontone, opens in Tribeca. A joint venture between Martin Friedrichs from New York and Domenic Pontone from London that combines a wealth of art world experience and expertise to curate a stable of established and up-and-coming international artists. Their programme showcases a variety of talent from the Americas, Europe and the Far East. Common to all and at the centre of this wide array of practice is a desire to make work that engages and delights the eye, excels in its craft and provokes the intellect.

Martin Friedrichs is a veteran of the New York scene. He brings a depth of knowledge of contemporary art and a profound understanding of the twentieth-century secondary market. Born and raised in Germany, he began his career at Philips Auctioneers and refined his skills working his way to a directorship at Hollis Taggart Galleries. In 2018 he moved to Galerie Gmurzynska NY as inaugural director of the flagship gallery.

Domenic Pontone worked in the film industry before opening Shine Artists in 2011, which operated under the auspices of Albemarle Gallery in London’s Mayfair. In 2016 Domenic took over as the director of Albemarle and established Pontone Gallery. After a spell in Chelsea the gallery moved to its current space in Fitzrovia. Albemarle flourishes as acomplementary gallery under Pontone’s aegis. Apart from his European heavy weights, Domenic has long championed South Korean contemporary art. He represents a significant number of Korean artists and has established himself as one of the foremost dealers of Korean art in Europe.

The two met on the international art fair circuit. After working long days for their respective operations, they circled around each other on the social carousel of the private view and after- party. They became friends, forming a bond born out of many late-night, back-yard conversations discussing what might be ‘the perfect art gallery’. Working to find their common ground and particular strengths they forged this partnership. Friedrichs brings his experience of the smooth workings of the metropolitan blue-chip gallery and his depth of knowledge of the secondary market. Pontone contributes his cohort of artists, his Korean expertise and an uncanny ability to discover and bring on new talent.