Christian Otto, a Berlin-based attorney, has been appointed as the insolvency administrator for Peres Projects, an influential contemporary art gallery founded by Javier Peres, 53.
The Berlin district court placed the gallery under provisional insolvency administration in February, following allegations of financial distress first reported by German outlet Verbraucherschutzforum.
The gallery’s Berlin location, opened in 2005, last held an exhibition in February. Its Milan branch has been dormant since December; its Seoul outpost is currently showing work by Hermann Nitsch. Otto confirmed that the proceedings are private under German law, and information about debts or creditors are still undisclosed.
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Though the gallery participated in Arco Madrid and Art Basel Hong Kong this spring, its future in Germany is still uncertain.
(Otto is overseeing contact with affected artists and parties regarding legal claims; Peres was not immediately reachable for comment; a gallery representative told Artnet News that details about the gallery’s plan would follow next month.)
Founded in 2003, Peres Projects opened in San Francisco before relocating to Los Angeles, gaining early attention with a show by Terence Koh, eventually moving on to work with other artists like Joe Bradley and Dan Colen over the years.
The insolvency ruling comes amid widespread pressures in the art market, with rising operational costs and stalling collector demand prompting drops in gallery profits. A recent report published by Art Basel and UBS revealed that global gallery and auction sales were down 12 percent, but that galleries at the higher end were suffering even more financially.
Amid the internal issues, Peres continued to carry out big projects with the gallery’s collaborators in other parts of the world. It partnered with Foundation Prada at the organization’s outpost in Shanghai Prada Rong Zhai to put on a solo show by Chinese artist Shuang Li.
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