Kathryn Markel founded her eponymous gallery in New York City in 1976. Since the beginning, the gallery has advocated work that is visually compelling, conceptually sophisticated, and unique in process. KMFA's artists are united by hard-won craft and the joy each finds in their studio practice.  From its inception the gallery has been dedicated to advancing the careers of women artists. Not only has the roster remained majority women throughout the decades but so has the management. Kathryn Markel Fine Arts is women owned and operated, showing a commitment to not only fostering artists but also future dealers. 

 

 

 

  • 1970s

    The Landfall Press Crew, 1972 

    1970s

    Kathryn Markel studied art history at Northwestern University where she fell in love with contemporary art. After a cutting her teeth at a commercial gallery in Chicago, she found Landfall Press. She became a salesperson at the Chicago lithography workshop run by master printmaker Jack Lemon. For four years she traveled around the United States and Europe selling Christo, Sol LeWitt and Philip Pearlstein prints among others. She recalls, "I’d drive around the United States and here I am, 5’1 and schlepping 60 pounds of art, and everyone would say, 'What’s a little girl like you doing with a big portfolio like thaat?' It was fun. I learned a whole lot about the art business because I met people from all over the world who were doing it well."
  • Kathryn Markel Fine Arts opened at 50 West 57th Street in late 1976. Initially selling prints from Landfall Press and other publishers, within a few years the gallery pivoted to selling original works on paper.  From the beginning, Kathryn was devoted to artists. On Mondays she would open the gallery for artists to show their work for her consideration. A open submission policy she maintains to this day. Kathryn's discerning eye and knack for finding young, talented artists was evident early on. In 1976 the gallery gave Richard Prince his first solo show and KMFA was the first gallery to represent him. On her artist forward mission she wrote, "Working with live functioning artists was my favorite thing.  I always said that the world did not need me to sell work by famous artists. There were lots of other people to do that." 
  • 1980s
    Kathryn at an Art Fair,  1980

    1980s

    During the 80s, Kathryn cemented the gallery as a staple in the New York art scene and a champion of women artists. In 1985 the gallery was featured on a Guerilla Girls poster titled, "Guerilla Girls' Hit List," as a gallery that devotes a significant portion of its program to showing women artists. In the 1980s Kathryn gave artists Takako Yamaguchi and Roz Chast their first gallery exhibitions and representation. Early in their careers Kathryn also championed artists Barton Benes and Bonnie Lucas.

  • 1990s

    In the late 80s Kathryn closed the 57th St. gallery and joined forces with Macie Sears to work as private dealers. Together they later opened a space in SOHO on Broadway. The partnership ended in the late 90s and Kathryn went on to open KMFA at 560 Broadway where the gallery remained until 2001. 
  • 2000s

    Kathryn at an Arden Scott exhibition opening reception, 2009

    2000s

    Kathryn Markel Fine Arts moved to Chelsea in September of 2001. The gallery has been located in Suite 6W of the 529 West 20th Street gallery ever since. Director, Debra Marcoux joined the gallery in July of 2004. Shortly after she joined the gallery expanded to begin showing paintings as well as original works on paper. Debra's beloved dog, Lulu, became a fixture of a visit to KMFA and later so did her two children who ___.  

     

  • Kathryn's instincts to modernize and stay up to date with technology, proved invaluable through this period as she retired slides, embraced burgeoning social media channels, and found new ways to connect with collectors, such as the gallery's long running Picture of the Week. The gallery also expanded it's team, adding gallery assitants and art handlers/ registrars to the growing gallery.

     

    Over time the gallery's program became progressively more abstract, while Kathryn's ethos of selling accessible work still guided the curation. "My gallery has a specific sensibility that favors abstract painting that is unabashedly beautiful, with a tendency towards a liberal but controlled use of color, a generosity of spirit, and what I term “Joie de Paint”.  Each of our artists has their own agenda and a unique visual language for expressing it, but there is a common visual clarity.  We look for painting that expresses that kind of clarity, a tension between control and accident, and a joy in the sensuality of color and surface. We love a complex structured abstraction based on perceived reality and representational art that is informed by principles of abstraction. We love focus, intention, specificity, and joy, pleasure, revel savor relish, generous, joyous, exuberant, optimistic. We love the tension between control and spontaneity between abstraction and representation - that paint blobs can evoke objects. We love a specific, recognizable, unique visual language. We love the beauty in the mundane."

  • 2010s

    Kathryn at the Bridgehampton gallery

    2010s

    In 2010 KMFA opened a secondary location in Bridge Hampton, NY. Here Kathryn spent her weekends sharing artists from her NYC program with the Hamptons audience. In 2016 Kathryn celebrated 40 years in business. The Chelsea gallery also expanded, adding exhibition and office space. 

  • 2020s
    Kathryn at the 10th Avenue gallery, 2023

    2020s

    In late 2023 Kathryn Markel Fine Arts closed it's Bridgehampton gallery after a sucessful 13 years. A month later the gallery opened a second space in Chelsea at 179 10th Avenue. The move doubled the gallery's footprint in Chelsea and became KMFA's first street facing gallery.

  • After more than 20 years of working alongside Kathy, I am still inspired by her curiosity, commitment, and vision. As the art world evolves, I think one thing will remain true: there is no substitute for experiencing art in person. That’s why we’ve continued to invest in physical gallery space and maintained a robust inventory. Kathy has always believed in creating opportunities - for artists to exhibit their work and for people to discover it.  I believe that will continue to define the gallery for years to come.

     

    Debra Marcoux, Director

  • My career as an art dealer has been based on the premise that contemporary art can be substantial and rigorous, visually accessible and affordable. Any idiot with a million dollars can buy great art – the challenge is in buying art that a normal person will want to live with and can afford, that is, at the same time, serious and significant.  

     

    I sell what I like. I don’t want to understand art – I want to feel it.  Castelli said it when he first saw Jasper Johns, I want to feel “A coup de foudre” (Love at first Sight).  I like to sell work by artists who are alive and care if I send them a check. I always say my favorite time of year is February when I do 1099s for the artists and see how much money I’ve given them over the year.

     

    It’s been a fun 50 years. When I look back I think “How many openings have I had? How much bad white wine have I served? How many drunk people have come in and out just for the wine?” But it’s been fun. It’s always been fun to work with artists. They’re always surprising you. That’s why I only want to deal with live artists, because dead artists don’t surprise you anymore. It’s always fun to have artists surprise you with how they grow and change in a way that is, in retrospect, inevitable. As a dealer I could never be able to predict which direction they’re going to go in next, but after I see it I think “Of course!”

     

    Kathryn Markel