Jay Jopling

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Jay Jopling (born 1963) is an English art dealer and gallerist. Over the past two decades he has established himself as a key figure in the art world and has been instrumental in repositioning London as the leading international centre for contemporary art.[1]

Life and career

Jay Jopling is the son of Lord Jopling, a Conservative politician who served for some time as Minister for Agriculture in the Conservative Government led by Margaret Thatcher.[2] Jopling was brought up in Yorkshire and educated at Eton and Edinburgh University, where he studied English Literature and History of Art and his first job was selling fire extinguishers door-to-door.[3] As a university student, Jopling visited Manhattan, where he forged links with post-war American artists, encouraging them to donate works for the charity auction "New Art: New World." In the late 1980s, he formed a friendship with the artist Damien Hirst. Hirst had already sold a number of works to the influential collector Charles Saatchi, but Jopling enabled the artist to realise more ambitious projects including the sculpture 'The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living' and more recently the diamond skull 'For the Love of God'. After completing his MA in 1984, he moved to London and began working with the young artists of his generation.

In May 1993 Jopling opened the original White Cube on the first floor of 44 Duke Street, St James, in London’s West End. Located in the most traditional art-dealing street in London, the gallery was surrounded by Old Master galleries, antique dealers and specialist art bookshops. Its exhibition policy was to provide a one-off showcase for both British and international artists. Since then White Cube has presented solo shows of the most challenging British artists over the last two decades including Darren Almond, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin, Lucian Freud, Gilbert & George, Antony Gormley, Mona Hatoum, Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Runa Islam, Harland Miller, Marc Quinn, Sam Taylor-Wood, Gavin Turk and Cerith Wyn Evans.[4][5]

A second, larger gallery space was set up by Jopling in April 2000. White Cube Hoxton Square was located in London’s East End, in a converted 1920s light industrial building. Its programme of exhibitions expanded to include international artists such as Franz Ackermann, Miroslaw Balka, Ashley Bickerton, Candice Breitz, Chuck Close, Gregory Crewdson, Carroll Dunham, Katharina Fritsch, Damián Ortega, Richard Phillips, Robin Rhode, Doris Salcedo and Fred Tomaselli. The gallery space closed in December 2012.[6]

White Cube Mason's Yard, situated off Duke Street, St James’s - home of the original White Cube - opened in 2006. Previously the site of an electricity sub-station, the gallery was the first free-standing structure to be built in historic St James for more than thirty years. The inaugural exhibition presented Gabriel Orozco, and the programme has gone on to include internationally renowned artists such as Georg Baselitz, Andreas Gursky, Robert Irwin, Anselm Kiefer and Jeff Wall.

White Cube Bermondsey, opened in October 2012, and is the largest of the gallery's 4 sites, providing more than 5440 m2 of interior space. The building dates from the 1970s and was primarily used as a warehouse before the current refurbishment. The gallery includes three exhibition spaces, substantial warehousing, an auditorium and a bookshop. The 'South Galleries' provide the principal display area for White Cube's expanding programme, whilst three smaller galleries, known collectively as the 'North Galleries', feature an innovative new programme of exhibitions

White Cube Hong Kong was the first of White Cube’s galleries to be located outside of the UK. In the heart of Hong Kong’s Central district, the gallery opened its programme of exhibitions with a show of Gilbert & George in March 2012.

Jopling’s most recent venture was the opening of White Cube São Paulo in December 2012, with a solo show by Tracey Emin.

Jay Jopling was married to the artist Sam Taylor-Wood until September 2008; they have two daughters.[7][8]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Brit art's square dealer moves on" guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Jay Jopling: the man who became a pain in the arts Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  3. ↑ Rose Aidin (2002-09-22). "Brit art's square dealer moves on | From the Observer | The Observer". Guardian. Retrieved 2011-12-20. 
  4. ↑ whitecube.com. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "About | White Cube". hitecube.com. Retrieved 19 January 2014. 
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "The rise and rise of Jay Jopling - Profiles - People". The Independent. 2006-09-28. Retrieved 2011-12-20. 
  8. ↑ "Entertainment | Powerful art-world marriage ends". BBC News. 2008-09-19. Retrieved 2011-12-20. 

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