Carpenters Workshop Gallery has denied allegations of a tradition of sexual impropriety and questionable enterprise ethics, as reported by the publication Air Mail final week.
“We’re in fact saddened by the content material of the article in Airmail on 8 June. We don’t settle for the allegations, that are largely linked to a business dispute on which we aren’t in a position to remark because of ongoing authorized proceedings,” a spokesman for the unique design agency tells The Artwork Newspaper. “We’re enormously happy with the enterprise, the group of artists and valued staff members that we’ve got established and developed over the previous twenty years. We’re dedicated to persevering with to develop and assist one another within the years forward.”
The Air Mail report claims to be based mostly upon “greater than a dozen interviews” with former staff and artists represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery (none of whom are named), which was co-founded by childhood pals Julien Lombrail and Loïc Le Gaillard in 2006 and has galleries in Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles. The agency represents among the largest names in design together with Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé and the Dutch Atelier Van Lieshout, in addition to the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid and the style designers Karl Lagerfeld and Virgil Abloh. It counts Brad Pitt, Tom Ford, Chrissy Teigen, Dasha Zhukova and her ex-husband Roman Abramovich amongst its most high-profile collectors.
The report particulars alleged inappropriate sexual behaviour, mistreatment of artists and doubtful artwork market practices—together with bidding up works by their artists that got here to public sale.
In response to the Air Mail report, Le Gaillard and Lombrail behaved inappropriately in direction of some feminine staff. Working circumstances at Carpenters Workshop had been additionally criticised.
Artists spoke, anonymously, of their alleged mistreatment on the gallery in respect of invoices and bills. One artist is known to have filed a lawsuit within the UK, which is ongoing. Others reported a unique expertise: Hannes Koch of Random Worldwide advised Air Mail he was at all times promptly paid and had no points with the gallery.
