Emmanuel Perrotin Brings His Renowned Gallery to LA

Never afraid to poke fun at the absurdities of the art world, Perrotin’s display at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2022 was an example of the gallery at its most subversive. It housed a special ATM constructed by art collective MSCHF, which ranked the bank balances of visitors—rich and poor alike—on a leaderboard. Perrotin was also behind the controversial 2019 display of Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan, which saw the Italian artist duct tape a banana to a wall, igniting a furor of internet chatter across the globe.

Sensationalism aside, Perrotin’s success comes down to the gallerist’s relentlessly expansive vision, constantly evolving to converse with the times we live in. In 2022, Perrotin held Pharrell Williams’ curatorial debut in Paris, signaling an awareness of the increasingly amorphous borders of art, fashion and celebrity.

Today, the gallerist shows no signs of slowing down. While Perrotin’s best-known space is located in an airy 18th-century mansion in the Marais district of Paris, the gallery’s presence stretches across the world and totals over 86,450 square feet, with locations in Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and, as of this month, Los Angeles.

In true Perrotin fashion, the new LA outpost is as unexpected as it is beautiful. Merging the identity of the French gallery with the spirit of the West Coast, it sees the former Del Mar Theatre located at 5036 West Pico Boulevard transformed into a modern exhibition space spanning two buildings and 10,000 square feet. Perrotin made sure to preserve key features of the historic art deco theater, such as its ticket booth, glass poster boxes and, most significantly, its original neon signage, restored with painstaking care by architecture firm Johnston Marklee.

As the gallery prepares to debut its inaugural show, Emannuel Perrotin weighs in on why physical spaces still matter, expanding audiences through collaboration and LA’s ongoing creative renaissance.

Why now for an LA space? What makes the LA art scene more exciting than even 10 years ago?

Los Angeles was a missing piece for Perrotin given the strong connection between Asia and the West Coast. A Los Angeles gallery gives us a platform to present—and in some cases debut—our program in California, sharing the work of our artists with new audiences. The opening exhibition, for example, will feature Japanese artist Izumi Kato’s first solo exhibition on the West Coast.

More and more of the gallery’s artists have connections to the area. Los Angeles, in particular, has a lot of energy in creative fields like music, film and dance. The city continues to be an invigorating city for the arts. On the museum side, you have the forthcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, the recently opened Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the new building for LACMA. The gallery landscape is also changing by the day. We’re excited to be a part of this tremendous moment of growth.

What can you tell us about the location and the architecture of the building?

The story of 5036 West Pico Boulevard is closely linked to film and performance, which are at the heart of Los Angeles’ expressive spirit. The Del Mar Theatre opened in 1939 and screened films for about 20 years before finally closing in the 1980s. In the early 2000s, it was a sound-mixing studio for film production. In between, it was a studio for shooting stop-motion commercials, then a studio for photography. The building’s history as being a part of the making process, and being a house for creative businesses and individuals, appealed to me.

I am especially fond of historic architecture and always carefully consider the design of our exhibition spaces. These range from a 17th-century ballroom in Paris to contemporary “white cubes” in Asia with floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Neon signs are rare; I was excited to discover the Del Mar Theatre’s marquee when we first visited. The entrance under the marquee with its ticket booth and poster frames immediately struck me as interesting sites of intervention that artists could enjoy working with.

From the outset, it was important to us to acknowledge and remember the site’s cultural significance and identity; restoring the neon sign and marquee was integral. We want the site to inspire artists from diverse cultures and backgrounds with its sense of place and history without detracting from what the artists choose to do here. In Johnston Marklee we found the perfect partner to thoughtfully repurpose what began as a 1930s movie theater into a contemporary art space.

What makes a Perrotin space a Perrotin space? 

This goes back to my fondness for architecture. I have always carefully considered the design of our exhibition spaces. We had the privilege of working with talented architects in the past, like Andre Fu for our Hong Kong gallery and Peterson Rich Office in New York.

We work in a world of luxury, creation, beauty and imagination. We are responsible for the dreams visitors experience when they enter our spaces. We maintain a high level of rigor in the presentation of artworks, the reception of the public, cleanliness and signage. I am quite the perfectionist!

Do you think one form of artistic medium is more relevant than others at the moment? 

The medium is not the main point of interest of an artist’s practice today: their validation and longevity within such a competitive art world require multiple and complex demands. Contemporary art is often considered elitist and reserved for a minority of people. However, since the beginning of our journey, we have aimed to open it up to as many people as possible, whatever medium it is. Through our collaborations in the fashion and music worlds, we’ve led new audiences to this field.

What does it mean to be a gallery today? How have the responsibilities shifted since you started?

For more than 30 years, our mission has been to support the interests of our artists in the long-term, from their moments of glory to challenges they might encounter; to believe in them and labor for their success. Our role is to champion all the artists we represent, whether they achieve rapid success, or their work takes time to find an audience.

Our artists are the core of our gallery mission. Real encounters with works of art are essential. We try to assist them as best we can with their artworks, even the difficult ones, by making our services available to them in every way possible. We can be proud of having contributed to producing works that might not have existed otherwise. This is even more evident when we commit to emerging artists and help them achieve success.

And it’s not just about organizing exhibitions of their work; it’s about being involved in every aspect of their career. It is a daily satisfaction to embark on this journey with an artist for many years and for them to feel as supported and loved as they did on the first day.

How have you managed to keep Perrotin at the forefront of the art world for all these years?

Our philosophy has never been to stay in our comfort zone; quite the contrary. We are not afraid to experiment, take risks and, above all, learn from our mistakes so that we can progress. I started exploring new territories at a very early stage, for instance, by participating in the Nippon International Contemporary Art Fair (NICAF) in Japan in 1993!

If you look at the history of the gallery, you will see that we have always gone where we were not expected to go, that we have always implemented solutions that seemed surprising to many. This approach to doing things isn’t the easiest. It requires us to constantly question ourselves, to remain curious and develop new skills. But we are rewarded by fulfilling our artists’ dreams as well as our own.

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