PATEL GALLERY to transition to PATEL BROWN
Following Shellie Zhang’s online exhibition ‘Abundance’ Patel Gallery will close it’s Queen Street location and join forces with Gareth Brown-Jowett to form Patel Brown. For more information please find the full release below.
Devan Patel and Gareth Brown-Jowett are proud to announce the formation of a new contemporary art gallery in Toronto: Patel Brown. The newly established gallery will open its physical space, 4000 square feet at 21 Wade Avenue, in summer 2020. Located in the coveted West End, the gallery will be in good company, neighbouring many reputable galleries and museums. Devan Patel of Patel Gallery, and Gareth Brown-Jowett former Director of Division Gallery and Arsenal Contemporary, Toronto and Co-Founder of the Edition Art Book Fair, are amalgamating their efforts to elevate the presence and impact of the new gallery, its artists, and the larger Canadian art community.
The long-anticipated collaboration between Patel and Brown will benefit from their years of accumulated expertise and network, as well as a long history of friendship and shared vision. Identifying gaps in representation and opportunities, the gallery will strive to offer something new to the larger arts community. Brown states, “Locally, a strong presence in the arts is pivotal: the building block or foundation to any gallery’s success. But to really thrive, the Canadian arts community is in need of gallery spaces that observe new models that also champion international engagement.” Patel Brown Gallery will be guided by these two significant facets: collaboration and community. Given the current challenges presented by COVID-19 Patel and Brown will adapt their visions of community until the public can gather again to celebrate and enjoy art together.
Patel Brown anticipates the announcement of their roster in Spring 2020. Representing notable Canadian and International artists, the co-owners find themselves drawn to experiential projects that transcend the conventional. The gallery’s program will look to traditions in culture and identity, and how they are increasingly challenged by the globalized world. Devan Patel adds, “We strongly believe in the societal benefits of visual art — that it provides an opening to address abstract, political, ethical, and social considerations. In our minds, conceptual and material innovation allows greater accessibility and ingenuity, which is exactly our goal”. Patel Brown Gallery will encourage experimentation in its programming and operations while highlighting alternative perspectives in hopes of setting trends instead of weathering them. Patel Gallery will discontinue its programming following a final exhibition by Shellie Zhang that will be presented online. Patel Brown remains optimistic about opening its physical doors this Summer, in the meantime the gallery will present ‘Critical Foundations’ a series of commissioned essays that lay the groundwork for the inaugural exhibition.