Brent Sikkema, founder of New York gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co., was found dead in his Rio de Janeiro residence on Monday 15 January, the gallery confirmed the following day. CNN Brasil reports that Sikkema was found with stab wounds and the homicide department of the city’s Civil Police is investigating. Sikkema was staying in Brazil for the New Year and Carnival holidays.
Sikkema Jenkins & Co. represents artists including Kara Walker, Sheila Hicks, Jeffrey Gibson, as well as Brazilians Vik Muniz and Luiz Zerbini. Muniz told Globo, ‘Brent was my gallerist for three decades and a friend for longer than that’. Muniz added that he owes incredible loyalty to the professional Sikkema was and for being one of the first galleries to have a roster of artist that was split halfway between artists who are white and artists of colour, and similarly between male and female artists.
Sikkema began his career working in galleries 1971 as director of exhibitions at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York. He was then director of Vision Gallery in Boston from 1976–1980 and owner from 1980–89. After moving to New York, he opened a gallery named Wooster Gardens, after Wooster Street in SoHo, in which it was located. In 1999 the gallery moved to its present location in Chelsea, and was renamed in 2003 Sikkema Jenkins & Co., in recognition of partners Michael Jenkins and Meg Malloy. The gallery stated on its website that it ‘grieves this tremendous loss and will continue on in his spirit.’
ArtReview will update this story if and when more details are confirmed.
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