More gallery closings, changes

From my report in this week’s Boston Phoenix on big changes in the Boston gallery scene:

A week after Allston Skirt Gallery got two of its artists named among the four finalists for the Institute of Contemporary Art’s 2008 Foster Prize, word began to spread that the nine-year-old gallery would be closing at the end of its next show.

The news turned out to be the first sign of a major gallery shake-up involving a number of Boston’s most prestigious venues. Three galleries are closing, several are moving, and others are restructuring. Are these changes just the start of a contraction as the tanking economy begins to affect the local art market?

The three-year-old Space Other gallery at 63 Wareham Street will close after its April 4-26 show, but it’s planning a series of “Space Other at other spaces” exhibits in Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, San Juan, and Mexico City in 2008 and ’09. Judy Ann Goldman at 14 Newbury Street plans to close, at least temporarily, at the end of June and “use the summer to reassess my next move.” There are widespread rumors that Rhys Gallery at 401 Harrison Avenue may leave town; owner Colin Rhys declined to comment. At least three additional galleries seem to be on the bubble and may close in the coming months.

Read the rest here.