Elizabeth Dee

PLUS MAGAZINE  Before Independent, you were a gallerist. Looking back across those transitions, what feels like the common thread running through that time?

ELIZABETH DEE  The consistent thread is that I’ve always worked as a creative director and cultural producer, focused on strategy, communication, and how ideas move through the art world. I’ve long been motivated by challenging the status quo. The art world can be conservative and creatively limiting, and I’ve learned to use that friction as fuel.

As a gallerist, I worked with artists whose practices did not fit neatly into commercial models. Ryan Trecartin is one example. His work required new platforms and forms of collaboration, often within museums. My long-term work with Adrian Piper followed a similar logic, bringing her voice back into New York and ultimately leading to her MoMA retrospective. These decade-spanning commitments shaped how I think about cultural responsibility.

I believe culture should drive models, not the other way around. The frustrations I experienced as a gallerist sharpened that conviction and directly informed what makes Independent distinct. What continues to drive my work is innovation, merit, and cultural impact.

P  When you think about art fairs today, both as a visitor and as a founder and organizer, how has your understanding of what a fair is or what it can do shifted over time?

ED  Art fairs have always been part of my professional life. I went straight from college into gallery practice, so fairs were simply part of the ecosystem. Historically, they made sense. In the late 1960s, galleries joined forces to create collaborative platforms where gallerists and collectors could meet.

Over time, that model became corporatized. Expansion outpaced the market, and many fairs lost touch with galleries doing the most vital cultural work. What could have been a dynamic space for the avant-garde became commercially driven and creatively stagnant.

I’ve always been critical of art fairs and never set out to start one. I was working with artists whose practices didn’t fit into booths or luxury frameworks, and many of my peers felt similarly uninspired by the fair circuit. Independent emerged from those conversations as a response to a shared problem. It was created to reflect the art world as it actually is, rather than how it’s marketed.

P  Independent grew out of a very specific moment and energy. When you were shaping its first edition, what mattered most to you in terms of how it felt to be there? For galleries, artists, and visitors alike.

ED  The first edition of Independent grew out of an earlier project we ran in the former Dia Center building after the 2008 financial crisis. That space carried deep emotional and intellectual history, and its raw, unfinished state encouraged reflection rather than spectacle.

We never thought of it as a conventional art fair. It sat somewhere between a fair, a biennial, and a gallery exhibition. We wrote a manifesto, and while sales mattered, they were secondary. The priority was to introduce artists gaining momentum elsewhere who had not yet been seen in New York.

The architecture was central. There were no booths or aisles. The building became an activation site for focused, often solo presentations. Museums acquired work, curators made discoveries, and artists’ careers shifted. What began as a one-time experiment became Independent because it proved that cultural rigor and commercial relevance do not have to be opposed.

P  Furthermore, the fair has often brought attention to artists and histories that had not been given enough space elsewhere. How do you recognize those moments? What draws you toward work or stories that feel overlooked, yet important to bring into view?

ED  Independent has always played a catalytic role. Recognizing the right moment for an artist goes beyond talent. It’s about timing, context, and consensus. That understanding comes from long-term dialogue with galleries, close to studio visits, and paying attention to where cultural momentum is forming.

Oscar Murillo is a clear example. Presenting his work in a central solo project at Independent was a deliberate decision, and it proved transformative. Curators, collectors, and institutions recognized the work almost immediately. These moments are never accidental. They emerge from sustained attention and trust.

We return to three guiding questions: Who hasn’t had this opportunity before? Why is now the right moment? What cultural impact can this create? When those align, meaningful change follows.

P  Why does New York remain such an essential place for the Independent, and what responsibility does working within this city carry for you?

ED  New York remains central for me because it’s a place where cultural influence is shaped, tested, and made visible. Historically, it has been a city driven by artists before (markets), where relevance was measured first through ideas, critical dialogue, and proximity to the work itself. Its strength comes from the innovation of artists, galleries, curators, and institutions, and from a long tradition of discovery rather than spectacle.

Independent is rooted in that lineage. We don’t treat New York as a backdrop, but as an active ancestral cultural force that demands responsibility, rigor, and care. Holding space here means defending the values that made the city matter in the first place, and using its visibility to bring forward artists and practices that might otherwise be overlooked.

P  How have the people and communities you’ve encountered influenced your approach and understanding, and how have these experiences informed the ways you contribute?

ED  Everything I do is shaped by being deeply embedded in the culture. That closeness is both a privilege and a responsibility. The art world is fragile right now, and its values are easily diluted. If I’ve had any influence, I hope it’s in reminding people why artists matter, why context matters, and why culture cannot be reduced to metrics and markets alone. If Independent helps hold that space and encourages others to do the same, then I feel I’ve done my job.

Shape of Influence is a special feature in Issue 10 highlighting four figures shaping New York’s contemporary art landscape.