Clearing, the influential New York and Los Angeles gallery that launched the careers of many prominent artists, will close both locations. Founder Oliver Babin announced the closure on August 7, citing crushing overhead costs—rent, shipping, and art fair expenses—that outpaced declining revenue. The gallery opened in 2011 in Bushwick, later moved to the Bowery in Manhattan in 2023, and expanded to Brussels and Los Angeles. Babin described the decision as inevitable, noting that the gallery had been kept alive by hope but now faces no viable path forward. The closure follows a wave of US gallery shutdowns this summer, including Kasmin, Venus Over Manhattan, and Tim Blum’s spaces.
The shuttering of Clearing underscores the severe economic pressures facing mid-sized galleries in the current art market downturn. Rising operational costs and a slowdown in sales have made it increasingly difficult for galleries to sustain themselves, even those with strong artist rosters and critical acclaim. Clearing’s closure is part of a broader trend of consolidation and contraction in the gallery sector, signaling that the post-pandemic boom has given way to a more challenging environment for commercial art spaces.