Gallerist Q&A - Bo Bjerggaard & Jeanette Lindholdt Madsen

Was there a particular experience that made you open the gallery back in 1999?

We—Britt, Morten, and I—actually opened our first hobby gallery, Art Focus, back in 1988 in a basement at Åbenrå 29. We were originally art collectors—and still are—but back then, we were primarily collectors. We all had jobs on the side, so it was just a hobby, where we showcased graphic prints from various artists, along with some books that we published ourselves. In fact, we were doing what later inspired Ekely.

It all started when Britt and I went to see a major retrospective of Kirkeby in Cologne in 1987, and we became deeply fascinated by him. This experience influenced what later became Galleri Bo Bjerggaard. In 1998, ten years later, my wife Britt and I were working on publishing a book called 'Per Kirkeby - Maleri', written by Poul Erik Tøjner, again as a hobby. At the time, I was Director of Sales and Marketing at Tivoli, and I had got to know Per while working at Louisiana from 1991 to 1996. During his 59th birthday celebration at Grøften in Tivoli, Per asked me, "Bo, what do you want to do in the long run?" I told him that I was happy at Tivoli but would love to work with art again. Then he said, "If you’re considering something with a gallery, you can count on me." And I said, "Then we’ll do it. We’ll open a gallery." So, it was actually Per Kirkeby who was the reason we took the leap and went full-time into the gallery, all three of us, opening our space in Pilestræde in 1999.

I was the first of the three founders to quit my job and get started. The gallery was named Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, as I was the most well-known at the time—having worked for five years at Louisiana and then three years at Tivoli as Director of Sales and Marketing. We thought using my name would be best for the gallery, even though Britt, Morten, and I owned equal shares.

How would you describe your job titles as gallerists?

When people ask me, "What is it that you actually do?" I say it’s like being a manager for someone—that’s basically what it is. It’s a big responsibility, as it’s a close collaboration. I’m constantly engaged with the artists, always following what they’re working on. Then, of course, there’s the other side of serving customers. So, in that sense, it’s a very unique and dual role.

If I had to give a short answer, I would say a gallerist is employed by the artist to look after the artist’s interests. It’s important to understand that it is the artist who pays the gallerist for their work. If we sell a piece to a customer, we send an invoice on behalf of the artist. Afterwards, we send an invoice to the artist for our work. This creates an employment relationship between the artist and the gallerist that isn’t contract-based.

So, our salary is essentially something the artist pays, but we only get paid if we sell something. However, 80%, if not 90%, of our time has nothing to do with selling. It’s about creating the foundation that leads to someone making a purchase. Our goal is for people to buy art, not for us to sell art.

That might sound strange, because, of course, we do sell when someone buys. But it’s a different way of thinking—it’s about understanding the motivation behind it. People need to feel convinced that this is exactly what they want to buy. When that happens, of course, we sell it. But the key is that, as a gallerist, you need to set things up in such a way that customers feel comfortable buying the artwork—that they feel, deep down, that this is the right purchase for them, making them happier and more engaged with the piece that ends up hanging on their wall.

Being three original founders and owners and three newly appointed partners, how do you complement each other in the way you run the gallery?

When you work together for so many years, you naturally find a division of roles. Morten, Britt, and I have had the gallery for over 25 years, and if you add the ten years before that, we've actually been in business together for 35 years. And after so many years, one of two things happens: either it falls apart, or it becomes solid. Ours is very solid.

A few years ago, we made a couple of big decisions: first, the decision to move from our previous space, and second, to bring three people closer into the gallery as partners. In the gallery world, partnerships are often defined by profit-sharing—if we do well together, the three partners get a share of the profits. But it is also about having influence over the daily operations. We value their input and integrate them more because they’re deeply involved in the work.

It’s no secret that there’s a generational difference between us three owners and the three new partners—except for one of them. We’ve made it clear that we want to keep working in the gallery, but to sustain it, we need to keep finding it fun and maintain our energy. That sometimes requires taking breaks when necessary. Now, we can do that with confidence, knowing that our partners will step in when needed.

How would you describe your programme to someone who isn’t familiar with your gallery?

Bo, Britt, and Morten decided early on to work with established artists. To this day, the program still reflects this, through media such as painting, sculpture, photography, and graphic works. However, we are also evolving and looking to the future, which means we are not afraid to add younger artists into our exhibitions.

Our basic approach is that we find it interesting to work with artists whose work has been acknowledged and holds some significance. If you want to create an environment for young, emerging art, you’d need more of them, and they would need space and time to discuss what’s happening in the world, where painting is headed, what the next big step is, and so forth. We have acknowledged that we are not good at creating that environment and that it’s simply not where our strengths lie.

Of all the ways a gallery supports an artist, which do you consider the most important?

You could say that our success criteria is that the artists can make a living from what we do. That’s what we want to achieve, which is why we have a limit on how many artists we want in our programme. It’s also different from artist to artist. But the most important part, I can definitely say, is trust. When we started with Per Kirkeby back in the day, he said to me, "Bo, you probably think we should write a contract. We don’t need to, or rather, we do need one, and here it is: We work together as long as I trust you, and you trust me. If either of us loses trust in each other, then we won’t work together anymore." It’s that simple.

Trust is the key word in the art world, as it is the most unregulated market in the world. There are so many unwritten rules. I mean, it looks very easy when you step in and say, “I want to open a gallery.” But most people fall flat because they don’t know what they’re getting into. And we didn’t know either when we started. We couldn’t find any training, nor could we look up a manual to figure out what the right way was. How does one become a gallerist? It’s something you learn by doing.

It’s also a personal relationship, which is very unique to this industry. We all work with our appointed artists, with whom we have personal relationships. And it’s not limited to regular working hours; it’s around the clock. It could be 10PM—it doesn’t matter because it’s just part of it.

After 18 years in your iconic space in the Meatpacking District, you've recently relocated to a backhouse in Frederiksberg. Can you explain the reasoning behind this move?

During the COVID lockdown, all our employees, including our now-partners, were sent home. At one point, we weren’t allowed to have any staff in the gallery, so Morten, Britt, and I would meet up, have lunch, and spend time together. We talked about how we still loved being gallerists and how we wanted to continue.

At the same time, we reflected on the fact that, as gallerists, we expect artists to evolve—but we sometimes forget to ask ourselves if we are evolving too. So, we discussed what we really wanted, and we agreed that we wanted to own our space instead of paying a hefty rent to the City of Copenhagen.

We also wanted a space with lower operational demands. For nearly 18 years in the Meatpacking District, every exhibition was a massive undertaking, with extensive photography, text writing, catalogue production, dinners, and openings. We wanted to scale things down and become more agile. It might sound odd, but a smaller space actually gives us greater opportunities. Some of our established artists still need larger spaces for exhibitions. Therefore, we are already collaborating with both institutional and private venues to facilitate exhibitions when needed. But now, it’s based on the need for large-scale exhibitions, not obligation. If an artist comes up with an incredible idea or a large-scale series that won’t fit here, we will use our network.

We also had many artists who came to the space in the Meatpacking District, saw the huge space, and simply couldn’t fill it. The exhibition you see now wouldn’t have worked at Flæsketorvet—we simply wouldn’t have had enough works, even though the artists spent a year and a half producing works for the exhibition.

What would you say is the biggest change related to the move?

Definitely the limited size, which opens up new possibilities and flexibility. It’s also a new challenge for us, as we could easily have chosen to settle and say, “It’s going well, we’ll stay in the Meatpacking District, as we know what we’re doing.” The know-how there was so strong—we knew exactly how to hang the exhibitions. In this new space, however, we are challenged to think differently and anew.

We’re also now a gallery that can offer something different. A good example is the solo exhibition with which we’ve opened the new space. In the history of the gallery, an artist not represented by the gallery has never had a solo exhibition here. The next exhibition will also feature a new artist, so right from the start, we’re doing something we haven’t done before.

Another very visible and obvious change is that we’ve moved from a radically different type of architecture. We’ve taken a big step by moving away from the colder, functionalist architecture of 1934 to an old horse stable from 1858, which has a much more homely, charming, townhouse and villa-like feel. That’s definitely a very conscious choice.

We have also renovated it in a way that makes it much easier to imagine how a piece of art might look if you’re a private client wanting to display it at home. We also have, believe it or not, the largest walls we’ve ever had in the gallery’s history. So, we can show both the largest and the smallest pieces.

How do you decide to add new artists to your programme?

Every time we choose to add a new artist—and we don’t do this often—but when we do, it’s because we believe that artist covers their own territory. The composition of artists in our gallery, the ones we represent, each artist is their own piece in the puzzle that is Galleri Bo Bjerggaard. It’s important for us that there aren’t two artists doing something that’s completely parallel or similar to each other. You mustn’t be in doubt as to whether it’s this artist or that artist. That’s why we’re very precise in our choice of artists, to diversify our programme. Many artists approach us if they do something that looks like, for example, Tal R. But the answer is no, because we already have that profile in our programme.

We want to pick artists that really resonate with us. We’ve had some well-known artists reach out who sell really well, but for us it wasn't the right fit. The fit is important because, in the long run, we want to be able to support and lift artists in a way that helps them grow. And we are committed on a long term basis. All the artists we work with are chosen because we genuinely love their work and believe in what they’re doing.

When you opened the gallery in the Meatpacking District, it was the first business to open to the public. Then other galleries followed. If we look another 18 years ahead, do you think this will be the new trend, galleries moving out to residential areas, choosing to buy their own spaces?

Yes, I have a clear view on that. I believe more galleries will choose to buy their own locations. The idea of deciding for yourself, I truly think, will become a trend. I think more people will realise that it’s much better to have your own space. The freedom you have and the reward you receive from doing what you want and investing more resources in optimising the space is greater when you don’t have to ask others for permission. That’s a real advantage. We decide what should be, and how it should be. I believe we’re the first, but I’d bet there will be more who buy their own spaces.

I can imagine—though I don’t know for sure—that the time is coming when you scale down a bit instead of sticking with the “big is beautiful” mentality. It could also be “small is beautiful.” And then, have some activities and partnerships that allow you to find big when you need big.