The Tamesis
Located in a restored cast-iron building at 75 Leonard in downtown TriBeCa, it has 4,000 square feet of space with 17-foot-high pressed tin ceilings, two exhibition galleries, a viewing room and offices. Cape Town gallery Southern Guild, co-founded by Trevyn and Julian McGowan, is about to open.
This isn’t the gallery’s first U.S. outpost. Southern Guild operated a space in Los Angeles’ Larchmont neighborhood from February 2024 until it permanently closed late last year. The couple learned a lot there as they surveyed the tastes and interests of collectors and visitors and tested new ideas, from custom gallery dinners to live performances. “We now have a lot more experience in the U.S. market,” Julian said.
“Los Angeles is experimental,” Trayvon added. “The exciting thing about New York is that it feels timeless.”
For sales director Andrea Delph-Dorcely, the Tribeca gallery represents not only an opportunity but a statement. “At a time when markets are feeling cautious and risk-averse, it’s powerful to come to New York with fresh energy, new ideas and a confident and thoughtful plan,” she said.
For nearly two decades, Trevyn and Julian, who have backgrounds in interior design and set design respectively, have built more than just a gallery; they have cultivated an ecosystem of interdisciplinary artists committed to material experimentation and process-driven work, supported by the gallery’s production, logistics and manufacturing infrastructure. I saw this first-hand in Cape Town, when I visited GUILD Residency ahead of Investec, the largest art fair on the African continent. Residencies are informal, flexible and tailored to the needs of the artist, emphasizing research, independent work and knowledge exchange, but do not require the production of work for exhibitions or presentations, as is the case with many programmes. In the home’s spacious, airy loft, the walls are covered with paintings by gallery artists, filling the space with light and color. Nearby are the gallery’s main offices and warehouse, complete with a production wing, photo studio and on-site crating and shipping facilities. The giant verdigris branches lay in custom-made wooden boxes as the logistics team prepared to ship them. “No Photography” signs are posted on the walls to protect the unfinished work.
