Dealer and gallery owner Mark Dean relates his journey from working in the corporate world to founding DEAN PROJECT in New York City. He discusses art fairs, pricing and sales, the business aspects of running a gallery, and his decision to relocate the gallery to Miami.
“[Collectors] love the idea of buying at fairs. They like the spectacle. They like the idea of being able to bring their friends back and showing them what they bought. They like the conversation.
There’s an urgency in an art fair. In an art fair, the client has fifteen minutes. They can put a piece on hold for one hour. It’s done that day… the fairs are very fast. There’s just an impulse.”
Mark Dean grew up in New Jersey and studied business at the University of Maryland, College Park. He worked in public relations prior to opening DEAN PROJECTS in September 2007 in Long Island City, New York, located behind MoMA PS1. Three years later, he relocated to the Chelsea gallery district in Manhattan, and he is currently relocating the gallery again to Miami. DEAN PROJECTS represents a selective roster of artists and often exhibits internationally, including the Middle East.