After 16 years of operation, the Chelsea-based gallery Mixed Greens will close its doors when its lease runs out at the end of the year. The gallery, which was founded by philanthropist and collector Paige West in 1999, had an unusual beginning: it first launched as a website dedicated to promoting the work of emerging artists. In 2005, after much success online, it opened a physical space at the request of the many artists they promoted.
The gallery has a special place in the hearts of those at AFC. Paige was part of the early blogging community we, too, were a part of, and she blogged enthusiastically about emerging art (she was talking about Alex Da Corte in 2008), overheard conversations at fairs (which were sometimes horrific), and, of course, collecting (she wrote a book on the topic). Then, when Mixed Greens opened its physical space, it launched its own blog, The Pit, which is run by the staff and for a time linked frequently to other publications, including our own. It was here, that the gallery made their announcement of closing. (My favorite posts revealed their obsession with sharks. I approve.)
