48 DIGS.NET
| 7.15.2022
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P R O F I L E | H A U S E R & W I R T H
ISLA DEL REY in Menorca, Spain, a decom-
missioned naval hospital established by
the English in 1711 is now a contempo-
rary art center for Hauser & Wirth with
gleaming-white galleries, artfully drawn
gardens, a nautically touched restaurant and craft-filled gallery
shop. Given the contemporary art already glorifying its gallery
walls in outposts from Hong Kong, London, Zurich, Gstaad,
Monaco, and St. Moritz, to New York and Los Angeles, Hauser
& Wirth has never found itself in want of an extraordinary canvas.
And yet, it was a crumbling but magnificent edifice languishing
on a small island in the port of Mahón that presented Hauser
& Wirth with a prize opportunity to add another architectural
restoration to its reputationally unquestioned repertoire.
Breathing new life into buildings that have seemingly outlived
their time or usefulness is the Hauser & Wirth way. One could
argue that the internationally-admired gallery is at this point
as known for its painstaking architectural overhauls as it is
its vibrant and edifying exhibitions. Hauser & Wirth is, you'll
ON
