Christian Kobald: Both of you retired from your galleries, 47 Canal and Blum & Poe, one year and two years ago, respectively. If you think back to when you entered the art world, what actually drew you in?

Jeff Poe: Wait – Margaret, how long did you do the gallery?

Margaret Lee: I did a project space, 179 Canal, by myself from 2009 to 2010, and the gallery came in 2011. Before that, I was doing independent shows and curating. I didn’t want to run a space as an artist; I wanted to be an artist.

JP: Interesting. In my case, I actually had nothing else to do. The gallery I was working for had just closed, and I was thirty-three and broke. It was just a way for me to keep going forward, being supportive towards artists and ideas. There was no hope for money then – that wasn’t part of the game. That’s why I was wondering, Margaret. Because in 2009, the market was flatlining – meaning, it was a perfect time to jump in. As it got bigger, and I realized I could actually make money, I embraced the business part of it. We kind of became a poster child for the current madness. So, in a certain sense, I do take partial responsibility for screwing everything up.

ML: I remember I was in my twenties when Art Basel arrived in Miami Beach [in 2002]. I would hear these stories from people coming back: There’s champagne, there’s Iggy Pop, everything’s free and decadent. There seemed to be so much money.

And then the 2008 financial crisis happened, and you could just feel the taps turn off. And I guess because I’m a 90s kid, the downturn is culturally where I know how to have fun – I actually still haven’t really progressed from being a no-goodnik in a parking lot in wherever city, loitering someplace. All my heroes were people who obviously had little to no ambition. Talent, but no ambition to make it “big.” And between the recession and Obama being elected, this combination of optimism and everyone feeling broke was a recipe for a good time. My first event at 179 wasn’t an art show; it was a dance party.

I remember liking some parts of being an art dealer and having a gallery better than others ...

— Jeff Poe & Margaret Lee’s conversation with Christian Kobald is printed in full in our Fall 2025 issue, Spike #85 – Nostalgia. Get your copy at a discount by subscribing to one year of the magazine —