This Jamaican born, model turned gallery director is one of SoHo's key players in the art world. She went from cat walking on the Calvin Klein runways to studying art history and business at NYU. In a matter of two years, Nicola Vassell blossomed from an intern at Deitch Projects gallery in SoHo, to a director. It was meant to be...
Though the art world is historically known for being dominated by white males, the ever changing globalization of the art market has ushered in a wave of multiculturalism. It is very rare to find a successful black director in a mainstream gallery, but Ms. Vassell is symbolic of the heartbeat of change.
Attending hundreds of parties held each and and traveling to major art exhibitions in Switzerland, London, Venice and Miami are just a few of the fabulous perks that Ms. Vassell enjoys on the job. One of her most important projects as of late: coordinating a meeting between contemporary art sensation Kehinde Wiley, a Los Angeles native, and athletic goods company Puma.
She's savvy, she's flyy and clearly she is in charge.
(Nicola Vassell, a director at Deitch Projects in SoHo, with Jeffrey Deitch at a Miami exhibition space.)
“It’s not a surprise that the director of a prominent, important gallery is black or is young or is a woman, but when you run the three together, it sends a very important signal.” - Arnold Lehman, director of the Brooklyn Museum
“I think I represent the future of contemporary art and the synthesis of so many worlds that include contemporary art, like fashion." - Nicola Vassell 
Kehinde Wiley shares a laugh with Nicola Vassell at the July 2008 opening of his show at the Studio Museum of Harlem.
“In the last few years, it’s like somebody who abides with you. She’s got a nose for really great art. She comes by the studio and we talk and I can paint. It’s a conversation that turns into an ability to communicate to the public what I’m trying to do.” - Kehinde Wiley
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