In the dead of New York’s frigid winter months, a number of East Coasters are flocking West. Among them are a deluge of the city’s gallerists—David Zwirner, James Fuentes, and Morán Morán, to name a few—all of whom have inaugurated Los Angeles spaces in recent years. Now, native New Yorker Emma Fernberger is joining their growing numbers, opening her first gallery in Melrose Hill. The eponymous space opens today with the first solo Los Angeles exhibition of fellow New Yorker Nicole Wittenberg’s bold paintings, “Nicole Wittenberg: Jumpin' at the Woodside.”
Fernberger has spent the past few years working the global gallery circuit. In London, she worked at Hotel. Then, there was a year-long sabbatical in LA before returning to New York, where she served as a director at Bortolami. Soon, the West Coast was calling her back. The bait? A sizeable footprint in the city's newly minted gallery row.
A wealth of experience working with numerous storied mentors gave the gallerist the confidence to open her own space. When asked about her impending opening day, she speaks with characteristic assuredness: “The people who do this most successfully are the gallerists who have a distinct vision or sensibility and continue to refine and hone it. That’s what I plan to do.” Here, Fernberger shares her developing game plan and unshakeable art-world philosophy.
CULTURED: What made you want to take the leap into your own venture?
Emma Fernberger: If you had asked me a few years ago if I ever wanted to open my own gallery, I would have said absolutely not. Working in galleries my whole career, and having a privileged proximity to so many great gallerists, I knew how hard it was. But a few things aligned, and it suddenly made sense in a way it hadn’t before. I found the space, I had the artists, and I had been dying to move back to LA. When I learned about this neighborhood, Melrose Hill, and how it was developing, I felt like that was the push I needed to take the leap. I felt like I could come back to LA on my own terms.
CULTURED: What do you think makes the Los Angeles art scene distinct?
Fernberger: There’s a real sense of community in Los Angeles that I appreciate. There’s a sense of older artists supporting younger artists, which creates a sense of art historical lineages and legacy here. There are people who work in other creative fields here like film, music, architecture, and food. They just implicitly understand the value of art in a way that isn’t obvious to people in the non-creative fields that dominate New York, for example. Angelenos feel a lot more open and curious about each other than in other places I’ve lived.
CULTURED: How did you select Nicole Wittenberg for the inaugural show, and what do you think her work reflects about the program you’re establishing?
Fernberger: Nicole Wittenberg is an artist that I’ve worked with before, and also a dear friend of mine. When I finally decided to open my own gallery, it felt natural and almost fated to inaugurate the gallery with a show of her work. We went to Greece together in 2018 (which feels like ancient history now), and she mused about when I would have my own gallery, and at the time, it was something that to me was not of interest. I sort of laughed it off back then.
But, funnily enough, that ended up being rather prophetic! It turned out to be a fateful trip for both of us because while we were on that trip she began making pastel investigations of water that gave way to the landscape paintings she’s making now. There’s a very direct relationship to the work she started making then, and the incredible landscapes and seascapes that are in our show “Jumpin’ at the Woodside,” in fact.
CULTURED: Running a gallery is one part business, one part curation and immersion in the arts. Are both sides of the job equally exciting to you? Which initially drew you in?
Fernberger: Art itself drew me in initially, of course. Then, once I began to learn the particularities and mechanisms of the business, I was completely enchanted. I love artists, but I also love strategy. Stefania Bortolami once said to me that we have the best jobs in the whole world because gallerists are the fulcrum between artists and collectors, both of whom are generally interesting demographics of people. I agree with Stefania—it’s a good position to be in! A lot of my closest friends are either artists or in the business of showing and selling art, and those are my people.
"Nicole Wittenberg: Jumpin' at the Woodside" is on view from January 26 through March 16, 2024 at Fernberger Gallery in Los Angeles.
