The Tamesis
When 52 Walker opened in Tribeca in 2021, it created an unusual buzz. Founded by Ebony L. Haynes under the leadership of David Zwirner, the space was widely considered a corrective gesture within the commercial gallery system: a gallery-style venue staffed by an all-black staff, with complete curatorial autonomy and unfettered by the usual pressures of artist representation. this new york times Praising it as a rare experiment within a large gallery structure, it emphasized its symbolic and structural ambitions.
Now, four years later, the experiment has quietly entered a new phase.
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The Tribeca space known as 52 Walker officially becomes a Zwirner space. Although it has not yet been announced publicly, the change has already occurred. As of this week, the gallery’s website lists the space as “closed for installation,” but there is no indication that its mission has changed. The most recent exhibition, which featured a critical lecture by Nicole Eisenman, was 52 Walker’s final exhibition as an independent entity.
The transition follows Haynes’ promotion last fall to a newly created position at David Zwirner. September, art news According to reports, she has been appointed global head of curatorial projects, a position that will expand her international reach at the gallery while allowing her to continue to oversee 52 Walker.
What went largely unnoticed at the time was that this transition also marked the beginning of the end of 52 Walker as a dedicated physical space.
“This is now Zwirner’s space,” Haynes told us art news recent. “That shift has already happened after Nicole Eisenman’s show ended earlier this month. The next show here will be an Isa Genzken show, titled ‘Holiday,’ curated by me and opening in March.”
Haynes describes the change as an organic evolution rather than an end. “Everything needs to evolve and I hope to be open to new projects and opportunities,” she said. “The 52 Walker stayed in one location for four years and will now be more global and nomadic. Hopefully all of that is part of its legacy and it’s still forming.”
Her new role allows her to curate Zwirner’s global network, including New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Hong Kong. “I have an open line with David and we’ve been discussing future exhibitions and artists I’d like to work with,” she said, adding that she also works closely with a gallery-wide programming group to brainstorm new ideas.
Her recent and upcoming projects include the Raymond Saunders exhibition in Los Angeles, the Isa Genzken exhibition in New York, and earlier exhibitions such as Let Us All Be Citizens 2 in London and Tau Lewis in Los Angeles.
At the same time, Haynes said 52 Walker was never intended to be just a permanent site. “I think of 52 Walker, or 52W, as a curatorial project,” she said. “It’s always broader than a single physical space.”
Going forward, 52 Walker will continue under Haynes’ direction as a mobile, project-based initiative with exhibitions at Zwirner’s global locations. “It was clear when the 52W exhibition would be held,” she said. “It will be presented as a ’52W’ show.”
When asked about the staffing model that initially attracted so much attention, Haynes said the original team is still part of the project and will continue to work with her on the 52W exhibition and other curatorial projects.
This transformation stands in marked contrast to the space’s founding narrative. When the gallery was first announced, David Zwirner saw it as a response to long-standing inequalities in the commercial art world, particularly in terms of employment. Haynes was given complete autonomy over programming, staffing and vision, and the freedom to operate away from the gallery’s main commercial engine.
During its four years of operation, 52 Walker implemented an ambitious and often intellectually demanding project, pairing historical figures with contemporary artists and staging exhibitions that bore little resemblance to traditional sales shows. Its exhibitions include artists such as Kandis Williams, Arthur Jafa, Nora Turato, Tau Lewis and Lotus L. Kang.
Unlike its founding, the space is now fully integrated into Zwirner’s infrastructure, but there has been little public comment. Gallery representative told art news The former 52 Walker location will now be programmed like Zwirner’s other spaces, will showcase work by both gallery and non-gallery artists, and will not operate under a separate curatorial authority.
The gallery added that the transition was discussed internally and was a strategic realignment, not an end, and that its timing coincided with Ebony’s promotion and expansion of her role, as well as the fact that Project 52W could actually function as a nomadic project.
Zwirner also reiterated that the original goal of 52 Walkers was not abandoned, but reassigned. “The 52W project reflects Ebony’s broader curatorial practice, which is primarily interested in conceptual and research-based work,” the gallery said. “This will remain the same, but the 52W exhibition will now travel around the world to a global audience.”
If 52 Walker began as a place, it now exists as a proposition. The ultimate outcome of this proposition will be determined more by how its curatorial ambitions unfold on a larger stage than by a storefront in Tribeca.
