COURTESY CHERRY & MARTIN
After a dozen years in business, Los Angeles’s Cherry & Martin is closing its doors, with its cofounder Mary Leigh Cherry leaving the partnership that she began in 2006 with Philip Martin. The news was first reported in Artforum. Reached by phone in L.A. this morning, Philip Martin described the parting as amicable and said that he will now operate the Philip Martin Gallery, with the same roster of artists that C&M had. The newly christened gallery will appear at the Armory Show in March, and Martin said that he will release more information about his plans soon.
Cherry, in a statement shared by a spokesperson, said that “following considerable thought about the next phase of my life and my passions, I have decided that the time has come for me to move on from Cherry and Martin. With the conclusion of our longtime partnership comes the end of the gallery, which closes its doors for the last time and ends operations this month.” She said that she will continued to be involved in the art world.
Located in Culver City, Cherry & Martin built a roster that ranged from the fresh-to-market to the firmly-established and included Ericka Beckman, Robert Heinecken, Robert Overby, Bernard Piffaretti, and Lew Thomas. In 2013 it opened 2732, a second space in Los Angeles, and it was a vital supporter of the revival of Support/Surfaces, organizing two exhibitions that showcased the work of artists associated with the French movement of the late 1960s and early ’70s.
In a letter addressed to “friends and colleagues” that was published by Artforum, Cherry said, “While it is bittersweet to say goodbye to Cherry and Martin, as we dissolve our fruitful partnership and close this iteration of the gallery, I am tremendously proud of the successful business we have created and grateful for the many experiences I have had, for the artists with whom we have worked, and for all of the incredible relationships we have built.”