The New York branch of Fotografiska, a private international museum of contemporary photography, will close the doors of its Park Avenue space today, Sunday, September 29, ahead of what it says is an anticipated relocation.
Originally announced in May, the shuttering of its Gramercy Park location is part of the museum’s “strategic evolution,” the museum said.
“As it’s become clear that our current space is not conducive to this vision, our commitment to the city’s art scene remains unwavering,” Yoram Roth, executive chairman of Fotografiska’s board, said in a May statement.
While the museum boasted “strong ticket sales” and “a highly-engaged membership base” since it opened in 2019, a public notice from the New York Department of Labor’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) unit dating from May lists the reason for closure as “economic” and states that 137 of the institution’s 189 employees will be affected. A Fotografiska spokesperson did not immediately comment on the WARN document, but confirmed that the museum would reduce its staff to a “core team” ahead of the closure.
“A small team will remain employed at the museum,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson declined to comment on a timeline or status of the relocation and said the process was ongoing. In the meantime, the spokesperson said, the museum will hold a pop-up show on 100 years of New York City nightlife photography at a temporary location before their permanent move. More details will be available “later this year,” the spokesperson said.
Executive Director Sophie Wright declined an interview with Hyperallergic. Speaking to the New York Times in May, Wright said the move was fueled by “ongoing challenges with regard to the exhibition spaces.”
“The verticality of that building is not easy to manage,” she said. “Our audience has been given a bumpy experience.”
Fotografiska is breaking a 15-year lease in its flight from 281 Park Avenue, the same building that socialite scammer Anna Delvey attempted to purchase for her namesake foundation at the height of her influence in 2016.
Fotografiska, first established in Sweden, will maintain its locations in Stockholm, Berlin, Shanghai, Tallinn, and Oslo.
The museum says it has held 48 exhibitions during its time at 281 Park Avenue, including with artists such as celebrity photographer and music video director David LaChapelle. Fotografiska said goodbye to its first New York home with exhibitions of works by the American street photographer Bruce Gilden in Why These? and the black-and-white photography of the late Vivian Maier in Unseen Work.
