Simon Lee Gallery, one of London’s top contemporary art galleries, on July 11 went into court-ordered joint administration with business advisory firm BDO LPP. The administration—which a limited company enters when it is insolvent and can’t pay creditors—was ordered on the back of a petition from Barclays Bank. The Art Newspaper in June reported that the gallery had been struggling financially over a tax dispute and was facing dissolution. At that time, gallery founder Simon Lee described the issue as “resolved” and expressed confidence that the insolvency hearing scheduled for July 12—its second to date—would be dismissed.
BDO director Matthew Tait, who alongside colleagues Christine Francis and Danny Dartnall is one of the three named joint administrators, told The Art Newspaper that the trio were “working swiftly to review the available options for the company with a view to achieving the best outcome for creditors as a whole, in line with their duties. In the immediate term, our focus is to safeguard the company’s assets, including works held on consignment. We appreciate that represented artists, and creditors more generally, will have concerns and we are in the process of collating and confirming relevant information.” The goal of the administrators is to keep the gallery in business. Among the measures available to them are restructuring, selling off assets and cutting expenses. Whether the gallery will remain in operation during the proceedings is unknown.
Simon Lee Gallery launched in London in 2002, opening a Hong Kong branch in 2012 and a New York outpost in 2017. The New York operation shuttered in 2020. Among the artists it represents are George Condo, Hans Hartung, Mai-Thu Perret, and Christopher Wool. Golden Lion winner Sonia Boyce parted ways with Simon Lee last month, having been with the gallery only two years.
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