New York’s Rachel Uffner Gallery brings on new partner and rebrands
The partnership with Lucy Liu marks an effort to expand the steadfast Lower East Side gallery’s network of younger buyers and international audiences
After 17 years operating as a single-owner venture, New York-based Rachel Uffner Gallery announced today that it has brought on director Lucy Liu as its first business partner. Uffner, who launched her eponymous gallery in 2008, has become a staple of the Lower East Side gallery scene, supporting mid-career and established women artists in particular, including Bernadette Despujols and Sheree Hovsepian. With Liu joining as partner, the gallery is officially rebranding as Uffner & Liu.
“Over the years, I’ve had many opportunities to bring in a partner or expand the gallery’s leadership structure in different ways, but it never felt quite right until I met Lucy,” Uffner tells The Art Newspaper. “I lead with intuition, and after a short time knowing and working with Lucy, I knew that she had the knowledge and vision that would best complement my own.”
Liu brings to the gallery a perspective that is both young and international. Born in China and raised in Canada, Liu is just 25 years old. “Lucy understands the art world in Asia—she’s part of a young patrons council at the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, for instance—and has cultivated relationships with the growing community of young collectors in the US,” Uffner says.
For Liu, the opportunity to partner with Uffner is “a privilege”, she says. “Rachel is an incredible gallerist with a discerning eye—someone who has long punched above her weight. In a moment when so much feels uncertain, she has created a business that is both resilient and ambitious and that truly puts the artists first. She has also been an invaluable mentor.”
Liu joined the gallery’s three-person staff as a sales assistant in 2023 and was promoted to director in September of 2024. Prior to joining Uffner’s gallery, she held internships at David Zwirner and the art advisory Art Intelligence Global while working towards her master’s degree in art administration at Columbia University.
In Liu’s two years with Uffner, she has taken on several roles across the gallery’s operations, including overseeing daily management, expanding its art fair participation and building relationships with new artists. She also curates the upstairs exhibition space, which is devoted to more experimental and emerging project-based shows and presentations organised by guest curators and artists.
With the new partnership, the gallery hopes in particular to introduce artists from the Asian American Pacific Islander community into future programming and to strengthen its connections with artists, collectors and audiences abroad.
“It’s not that those audiences have been missing, but over the years we’ve had different priorities,” says Uffner. “I’m proud of the relationships we’ve built and the artists we’ve championed here in New York—and our recommitment to our physical space downtown is a testament to that—but there is also a desire to engage more deeply with markets outside of the US, as well as markets within the US that we haven’t tapped into.”
In addition to expanding its outreach from New York, Uffner & Liu also plans to take part in more international art fairs. While the gallery has exhibited abroad in the past, including at Frieze London and Kiaf Seoul, it will participate for the first time in the West Bund art fair in Shanghai in November.
Entering her new role at just 25 years of age, Liu also brings a uniquely young perspective to the business. While the 2024 Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting showed that Gen Z collectors (along with Boomers) are spending less than Gen X and Millennials, these younger buyers are likely to continue to increase spending in the future. And, as the high attendance of Gen Z visitors to the most recent Art Basel Hong Kong edition showed, young buyers and enthusiasts are actively engaging with the art world.
“Having a younger perspective is essential for the gallery's growth because the art world and its players and values are constantly evolving,” says Liu. “What feels especially fulfilling to me is having the opportunity to welcome new collector groups—people who might not have historically seen themselves as part of the art world, but who are now entering the ecosystem with curiosity and intention. We get to build something meaningful together from the ground up.”
