Independent 2025
Independent partnered with Puck on a public program of talks at the 16th edition of Independent, at Spring Studios in Tribeca on May 8th-11th, 2025. The live events featured guest speakers Matthew Higgs, Marion Maneker, Lucy Mitchell-Innes, Charles Moffett, Maureen Paley, Kendra Jayne Patrick, Chris Sharp, Rosa Barba, and David Joselit.
Celebrating 40 Years: Maureen Paley in Conversation with Matthew Higgs
Saturday, May 10th
Maureen Paley, one of the pioneers of London’s contemporary art scene, marked the 40th anniversary of her gallery in this candid conversation with Matthew Higgs, Independent’s founding curatorial advisor and director of White Columns. A groundbreaking presence in London’s East End, Paley has been instrumental in promoting and exhibiting a diverse range of international artists in all media, including numerous Turner Prize winners and nominees. The talk looked back on the roots and evolution of Paley’s gallery, from the earliest days of Interim Art to the present-day program at Maureen Paley and Studio M in London and Morena di Luna in Hove, on the south coast of England.
Listen to the talk here.
Downtown Dealers: Featuring Lucy Mitchell-Innes, Charles Moffett, Kendra Jayne Patrick, and Chris Sharp
Friday, May 9th
Four leading gallerists shared their unique generational perspectives on navigating the evolving landscape, in conversation with journalist Marion Maneker, Puck’s Art Correspondent. Lucy Mitchell-Innes, co-founder of Mitchell-Innes & Nash and former president of the Art Dealers Association of America, reflected on nearly three decades of art dealing in New York. Charles Moffett recently relocated and opened his new space in Tribeca, following his transition from contemporary art specialist at a major auction house to gallerist. Kendra Jayne Patrick offered insight into her fluid approach to gallery practice, based between Bern, Switzerland, and New York. Chris Sharp runs an influential Los Angeles gallery and formerly founded Lulu in Mexico City. Sharp is also the creator of two alternative fair formats—Place des Vosges in Paris and Post-Fair in Los Angeles.
Read the transcription of the talk here.
From Medium to Material: Reframing Film with Rosa Barba and David Joselit
Sunday, May 11th
Art historian David Joselit joined artist Rosa Barba for an illuminating discussion of Barba’s artistic practice and her solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Ocean of One’s Pause. Barba’s conceptual explorations of film probe historical records, personal narratives, and the sensory experience of celluloid, often by documenting natural landscapes and human-made changes to the environment. Her presentation with Vistamare at Independent featured her sculptural practice, while the concurrent exhibition at MoMA, spanning 15 years of her career, highlighted her film installations, kinetic works, and sound activations. David Joselit is the Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Art, Film, and Visual Studies at Harvard University, an editor of the journal OCTOBER, and an author on contemporary art and culture.
Read the transcription of the talk here.
Independent 20th Century 2025
Independent 20th Century returned to Casa Cipriani at the Battery Maritime Building September 4th–7th, 2025 with a live program of talks presented in partnership with Puck. This series of complimentary events reflected the fair’s spirit of discovery and dialogue, bringing together leading voices from across the art world—including museum directors, artists, gallerists, curators, and critics. Program highlights include a special edition of Downtown Dealers moderated by Puck’s Art Correspondent Marion Maneker, a live recording of Artnet News’s The Art Angle podcast, and a panel on art world sustainability presented by Crozier, Independent 20th Century’s Logistics Partner.
Robert Storr and Emilia Kabakov in Conversation
Thursday, September 4th
Held during the fair’s VIP Preview Day, this special in-conversation event reflected on the profound artistic legacy of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov. Framed around their decades-long exploration of utopia, memory, and the fragile line between the personal and the universal, the discussion revisited the artists’ iconic large-scale installations while considering their continued relevance today. Emilia offered a rare perspective on the couple’s unique partnership and creative process in conversation with renowned art critic and curator Robert Storr. The discussion coincided with Galerie Brigitte Schenk’s presentation of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s works at Independent 20th Century.
Read the transcription of the talk here.
Stewards of Legacy: Museum Directors’ Roundtable
Friday, September 5th
What does it mean to lead an art museum in 2025? Four directors—Nora Lawrence (Storm King Art Center), James Steward (Princeton University Art Museum), Cybele Maylone (The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum), and Nicola Lees (Aspen Art Museum)— shared insights into how they are shaping the identity of their institutions through curatorial programs, artist commissions, and public engagement initiatives. Moderated by Puck’s Art Correspondent Marion Maneker, this roundtable discussion considered how museums can best showcase historical narratives while evolving to meet the needs of present audiences.
Read the transcription of the talk here.
Downtown Dealers: Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn and Alma Luxembourg
Friday, September 5th
Downtown Dealers, the live conversation series uniting influential art dealers across generations, continued with Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, founder of Salon 94 in New York, and Alma Luxembourg, partner at Luxembourg + Co. in New York and London, moderated by Puck’s Art Correspondent Marion Maneker. Since 2002, Greenberg Rohatyn has expanded Salon 94’s original domestic setting into the current Museum Mile headquarters, championing a diverse roster of artists who cross the boundaries between visual art and design. Luxembourg played an instrumental role in opening her gallery’s London location on Savile Row in 2011. Luxembourg + Co. combines private sales of modern and contemporary art with a rigorously curated, museum-quality exhibition program.
Listen to the talk here.
Celebrating the Chicago Imagists
Saturday, September 6th
This celebration of one of America’s most idiosyncratic postwar art movements brought together Tang Museum director Ian Berry with Chicago-based gallerists and curators John Corbett and Jim Dempsey. They discussed their new book 3-D Doings: The Imagist Object in Chicago Art, which followed an exhibition of the same name at the Tang Museum. Bound by a shared interest in popular culture, comics, and material objects, the Imagists can be characterized as warm and wacky—a stark contrast to the cool detachment of their Pop contemporaries. 3-D Doings continued the Tang Museum’s award-winning publishing program with a 312-page book featuring inventive design by Barbara Glauber and one of the last oral histories with many of the artists. Founded in 2004, the gallery Corbett vs. Dempsey champions artists of critical significance to postwar Chicago, including core Imagists Ed Flood, Philip Hanson, Christina Ramberg, and Karl Wirsum.
Dancing with Calder: Nicol Allan’s Experiments in Collage
Saturday, September 6th
Art historian and psychoanalyst Rye Dag Holmboe joined Yuval Etgar, the director of research and exhibitions at Luxembourg + Co., for a focused discussion on Nicol Allan (1931–2019), abstraction in collage, and its links to the work of Alexander Calder. An original yet overlooked figure, Allan developed a singular approach to abstraction through intimate, hand-dyed paper compositions, often invested in movement. Holmboe reflected on the artist’s methods and legacy in dialogue with Etgar, a curator and art historian specializing in the history and theory of collage. The talk coincided with a duo presentation by Luxembourg + Co. pairing Allan’s collages with Calder’s standing mobiles.
A Live Recording of The Art Angle with Artnet News
Saturday, September 6th
Artnet News hosted a special live recording of The Art Angle, the publication’s acclaimed weekly podcast. This spotlight edition of The Round-Up—a monthly conversation on the biggest stories shaping the art world—featured national art critic Ben Davis and senior editor Kate Brown in conversation with Matthew Higgs, Independent’s founding curatorial advisor and the director and chief curator of White Columns. Together, they unpacked how a new generation of galleries is reshaping 20th-century art history—alongside other provocative shifts transforming the industry today.
Listen to the podcast here.
Immersion and Form: The Expansive World of Judy Pfaff
Sunday, September 7th
Known for her dynamic, site-specific installations that fuse painting, assemblage, and architecture, Judy Pfaff joined her friend Joe Fig for a wide-ranging conversation about their respective creative practices. As an artist and author, Fig’s work interrogates the role of the artist, the creative process, and the self-made universe of the artist’s studio. Coinciding with Cristin Tierney Gallery’s solo presentation of Pfaff’s historic works at Independent 20th Century, this talk covered everything from welding to neon to gardening, from studio pets to the unpredictable realities of collaboration.
Read the transcription of the talk here.
Building a Greener Art World
Sunday, September 7th
What role can the art world play in addressing the climate crisis—and who is driving meaningful change? Moderated by James Hendy, General Manager at Crozier, this discussion brought together expert speakers from contemporary art, activism, and decarbonization to tackle the future of sustainability in the culture sector. Annabel Keenan, journalist and author of Climate Action in the Art World: Towards a Greener Future, reflected on the industry’s progress to date and the next steps in system-wide change. Artist Robin F. Williams is a founding member of the Artists Commit collective, advocating for climate-conscious practices across galleries and institutions. Joining them was Pawel Woelke, senior principal at engineering consultancy Thornton Tomasetti, who leads the firm’s climate action programs with a focus on decarbonization.