DALLAS: GOSS GALLERY
MAY 2005

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INTERNATIONAL FEEL
Goss Gallery opens this month, intent on elevating Dallas to the ranks of the world's great gallery cities.

"My vision is to bring something great to Dallas," Kenny Goss says, riffing on the motivation behind the creation of his Uptown art gallery. "Some people assume that the city is very provincial, and it's not. I hear quite regularly from people, 'We really need a gallery that isn't afraid to step out and do something different.' "

With its focus on international contemporary art and with the consulting and curatorial involvement of two of Europe's leading experts, the words "something different" are classic understatement. The clean lines of the 3,200 square-foot space are the work of Dallas' Zero3 Architects and Cynthia Nash Hughes of Collections Rare. The art inside reflects the shared sensibilities of Kenny Goss himself and his partner, musician George Michael. "Kenny came to me not so long ago with this idea of wanting to open a gallery in Dallas," recalls Tim Jefferies, owner of the acclaimed Hamilton's Gallery in Mayfair, London. A long-time friend of Goss, Jefferies was eager to lend his expertise as a consultant. "I think in the first year's exhibition program you're going to see some of the artists who we represent and have close connections to. But Kenny has some very defined ideas about the artists he wants to show, and some local artists, which I would actively encourage." Goss' office is designed to serve as a "home living space" viewing room, an idea imported from Hamilton's.

"Very few people live in a gallery environment," Jefferies notes. 'They don't live in white boxes with concrete floors, white walls and two pieces of furniture. I think it's very important for clients to see works of art in context." Completing the triumvirate of key players in the enterprise is Filippo Tattoni-Marcozzi, who'll be serving as director and curator of Goss Gallery; he has been manager of Hamiltons for the last several years. "I'll be advising on acquisitions and exhibitions, trying to bring to Dallas what we feel the local scene is missing, an international feel," Tattoni-Marcozzi explains. "Goss Gallery will very much be representing Kenny's vision of his own gallery, and developing its own program." Although Hamiltons made its reputation as the preeminent photographic gallery in Europe, in the last five years they've broadened their direction to include contemporary paintings. Exhibitions of Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Tom Wesselman have alternated with the likes of photographers Helmut Newton, Robert Mapplethorpe and Huger Foote. Tattoni-Marcozzi suggests that it's that very eclecticism that will serve as a signature of Goss Gallery as well. 'The idea of mixing and matching what we like, regardless of whether it necessarily fits, alternating an Irving Penn show with a James Nares show ... we still find a way to make it work, even though they're so different," he says. "Kenny enjoyed that unique vision that Hamiltons has, and the idea was to try and recreate a similar feel here in Dallas." Upcoming exhibitions include looks at contemporary photographer phenom David LaChapelle and enigmatic British painter James Nares. "I don't think we're putting any boundaries on our thinking at the moment," Tattoni-Marcozzi maintains. 'The list of artists we're going to work with is by no means closed-it never closes. For the gallery to evolve, we keep on meeting people, finding artists, believing in something new and developing it. .. Hamiltons' experience for Goss Gallery is the first step from where we evolve and move forward."