There's a recession on in the art world, just like everywhere else, although the way most commercial galleries act you'd never guess. Same old frosty debutantes barricaded behind their desks, giving you the cool once-over if you dare to step inside. You can almost hear what they're thinking, behind the distant stare: ''Timewaster. He's not here to buy. He couldn't afford it anyway. Look at what he's wearing, for God's sake.'' So while the rest of the nation's retail outlets are busting a gut to let the consumer know how desperate they are for sales, the art galleries continue to work on the principle that feigned indifference is good for business. And one by one, so quietly and genteelly that most people have probably not even noticed, they have begun to close.
It's a little bit like the 10 Green Bottles on Cork Street and thereabouts these days. The list of casualties grows by the week. Nicola Jacobs Gallery has gone, along with Fischer Fine Art and Maureen Paley; there's a sign in the window of what used to be Odette Gilbert Gallery and David Hockney's dealer, Kasmin, has let it be known that he won't be renewing the lease on his gallery in Cork Street. The mood inside those galler-ies that are still trading is one of quiet desperation, while the dealers seem to be waiting tensely for the last chapter in the story to unfold: no more pictures, hanging on the wall.
At least one London gallery is not taking it lying down. Full credit to Karsten Schubert Ltd for breaking that awkward silence. They have taken a leaf out of the less posh sort of retailer's book and put on what the day-glo banner hanging on the outside of their premises in Charlotte Street bills as a...
