News | VITRINE Closure, July 2024

This month, 14 years after its inception in London’s Bermondsey Square, VITRINE (which operates spaces in Fitzrovia, Bermondsey and Basel) will come to a close. The current shows in our two London galleries will be the final in the long-running programme across the UK and Switzerland, which will close on the weekend of 13th July 2024.

I am extremely proud of founding and running VITRINE from a project space into a successful commercial gallery operating across two countries and constantly exploring new business models. The gallery has reached a high point, having produced over 100 shows with incredible artists and an unwavering commitment to experimentation, interdisciplinary practices and diversity throughout our programme; exhibiting in Frieze London and Independent NY, among other international fairs; creating a platform for peer collaboration; opening a space within the wonderful growing community of galleries in London’s Fitzrovia; and championing an incredible group of artists’ as they reach their goals on an institutional level.

The challenges facing galleries today are well documented; specifically the resources and staffing that are required to stay afloat and the growing expectations on mid-sized galleries to compete with much larger operations. Achieving lasting sustainability for gallery and artists has always been my priority and, like so many of our mid-sized gallery peers, achieving this comfortably has become increasingly challenging especially in the current economic and political climate, as has fulfilling the growth required by our industry. The decision to end this chapter comes with sadness, but in the knowledge that it is the right one. It has been taken in a manner that celebrates 14 incredible years, maintains positivity with our network, and it allows all that we have worked on to flourish in a myriad of new forms, fully in keeping with VITRINE's founding principles.

I announce this news with enormous thanks to this network: to all those who have believed in, invested in, supported, exhibited with, collaborated with, worked with, and visited the gallery since 2010; To my colleagues (present and past), associates and clients. It has been an incredible journey together and these relationships have always been of the utmost importance to me.

Above all, my thanks to the artists represented by the gallery; Nadim Abbas, Nicole Bachmann, Edwin Burdis, Kara Chin, Tim Etchells, Cecilia Fiona, Jamie Fitzpatrick, Ludovica Gioscia, Sacha Ingber, Rudy Loewe, Milly Peck, Sam Porritt, Ashfika Rahman, Mamali Shafahi and Charlie Godet Thomas, who have each trusted me as a collaborator, confidant and creative partner. Many started out working with me early in their careers and a number of them for over a decade. I am incredibly grateful to each of you and for the amazing experience it has been.

I could not think of a better conclusion to the programme than Charlie Godet Thomas’s fourth solo show with the gallery, at Fitzrovia, and Sarah Bedford’s 16-meter wall painting at Bermondsey Square as part of our gallery collaborations. I hope you will join us this weekend for the final weekend of these shows. 

On Saturday 13th July in Fitzrovia, we will host a Finissage for Thomas’ show (from 4-7pm) where we will celebrate and share a toast to all that has passed, all that has been achieved, and to the future. I hope you will be able to join me for this special moment.

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Warmest,

Alys Williams

Owner and Founding Director, VITRINE