Because apparently, even the tech titans need a little more culture in their lives, mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth is rolling out the red carpet in downtown Palo Alto. On October 3rd, the art world's equivalent of an Avenger's compound will open its first permanent Silicon Valley outpost.
And to kick things off? An exhibition called "Calder | O'Keeffe," focusing on the rather delightful and decades-long friendship between Alexander Calder and Georgia O'Keeffe. Because nothing says "we're here to stay" like two American modern art legends.
The Art World's Empire Strikes Back
This isn't Hauser & Wirth's first rodeo, not by a long shot. What started in Zurich in 1992 has ballooned into a global art empire with 16 locations across the US, Europe, and Asia. Think New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong — and now, Palo Alto, making it the gallery's sixth US spot and second in California.
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Start Your News DetoxLeading the charge will be senior director Beatrice Shen, fresh from the gallery's Los Angeles operations. And, perhaps not coincidentally, this move puts Hauser & Wirth in closer proximity to billionaire philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, a rumored major client who just happens to live in Palo Alto. (Pace Gallery previously tried this neighborhood, but packed up shop in 2022. Let's see if H&W has better luck.)
Unexpected Connections
The inaugural exhibition, a collaboration with the Calder Foundation and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, will showcase works by both artists alongside archival materials tracing their enduring bond. Despite their wildly different artistic styles – Calder with his kinetic mobiles, O'Keeffe with her stark landscapes and magnified flowers – their friendship was a constant.
Calder even crafted a brass brooch with O'Keeffe's initials in the late 1930s. Later, O'Keeffe famously displayed one of his black mobiles in her New Mexico home, a frequent backdrop in photos of the artist. The exhibition's real spark? O'Keeffe's observation that she saw her own "pelvis bone holes" in Calder's abstract pieces. Which, if you think about it, is both impressive and slightly terrifying, and exactly the kind of insight that makes an art show sing.
All this will unfold in a beautifully restored, century-old post office building at 201–225 Hamilton Avenue. The 2,600-square-foot space will also include a Hauser & Wirth Bookshop, designed as a community hub for talks, educational programs, and publishing events. Because even in Silicon Valley, sometimes you just need a good book and a moment to pretend you're not coding the future.
