Mr. D'Amelio in 2009. (Courtesy Patrick McMullan)

Artnet's Rachel Corbett checks in with Chris D’Amelio, whose gallery D'Amelio Terras closed last December following a decision to part ways with partner Lucien Terras. He's since reopened in that gallery's former home on West 22nd Street under his own name.

From the piece:

As for loose ends, D’Amelio said he’s following through on any commitments made to artists he didn’t sign to the new gallery, and that he’s still in contact with Terras to follow up with sales and museum presentations. After all, “15 years of partnership doesn’t happen by accident,” he said. “I think it’s good for both of us. For me, who wanted to maintain a gallery, to have this happen and feel suddenly that it’s really now up to me again, there’s nobody else to turn to, that got me really excited and energized.

Mr. D'Amelio has kept on a good number of artists from that partnership, though he's apparently looking to add between three and eight more. (N.b., he's not looking for any unsolicited portfolios.)

Works by Heather Rowe in the gallery. (Photo courtesy of D'Amelio Terras)

Yesterday, the D'Amelio Terras gallery announced that it would soon shut its doors as partner Lucien Terras leaves to pursue other art world endeavors.

"This is a decision that we made together six months ago," said partner Christopher D'Amelio. "We waited to say anything about it because we had very strong fall shows that we didn't want to disrupt, along with Basel Miami."

The breakup has Mr. D'Amelio taking custody of the gallery's space at 525 West 22nd Street, along with most of its artists, though Mr. D'Amelio says that the roster may be pared down to a core group that has no other representation. A tighter selection of artists, he added, might also make room for new ones.

In all, Mr. D'Amelio said that he was excited for the opportunity to revitalize the gallery.

"I'm excited for both of us," he said. "We're both kind of excited, kind of scared the way you always are with a new opportunity."

Reporters Georgina Adam, Charlotte Burns and Riah Pryor argued that was because dealers were playing it safe: compared with sculpture (to say nothing of video or installation art), paintings are relatively easy to ship--and sell. Not every collector has room for another large Thomas Houseago piece, though most can find room for a new painting.

But there was perhaps one exception: the New York artist Carl Andre, whose work felt omnipresent, hiding around every corner. We once felt a strange shakiness under our feet and found that we were standing on one of his steel pieces.

This popularity makes sense. Mr. Andre's floor sculptures are relatively easy to ship (just wrap, stack and box them) and pose little demand on collectors (just yank out a rug for a moment and replace it with an Andre). The artist also has a retrospective coming up at Dia:Beacon in 2013, his first museum retrospective in the United States since 1970. In addition, nine of the artist's top ten auction prices have come in the past five years, according to Artnet.

What's more, Mr. Andre was the subject of Calvin Tomkins' first profile in many months in The New Yorker last week, which not a few people Gallerist ran into mentioned reading on the plane ride to Miami--not bad advertising for the Andres on offer in the fair's booths, a selection of which are visible in the slide show above.

arusseth@observer.com