Five Questions with… Vertical Gallery’s Patrick Hull

Five Questions with… Vertical Gallery’s Patrick Hull

The global art market is in flux. According to this year’s installment of the Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report, sales fell 12 percent worldwide in 2024, but overall transaction volume increased 3 percent from 2023 totals, fueled by younger collectors craving interactive experiences and destination events. For example, art fairs accounted for 31 percent of global dealer sales in 2024, up 2 percentage points year over year.

Vertical Gallery is evolving in response to these trends. In the first installment of our new web-exclusive interview series Five Questions with…, Vertical owner Patrick Hull discusses the steps he’s taking to remain ahead of the curve.

Question 1: What does the future hold for Vertical Gallery?

Patrick Hull: I’ve always felt it was really important to be in front of people in different markets in order to grow the Vertical brand. We've been doing art fairs since day one, and in the past couple of years, we’ve done pop-ups in New York City with Alex Face and Flog. We also did a pop-up in Indianapolis, and we showed 2CHOEY at the Urban Art Fair in Paris, He’d never shown in France before.   

We’re moving forward with this model, and our current group show ‘The Scenic Route’ is going to be our last in our West Town location. In early December, we’re presenting 12 artists at Aqua Art Miami 2025, and we’re actively looking at different communities for future exhibitions. We’re still confirming our 2026 programming slate, but we return to Chicago in March to present our 13-Year Anniversary Show with our friends at Jackson Junge Gallery, and we’re bringing Collin van der Sluijs back to Chicago in July in partnership with Joy Machine Gallery. 

Question 2: Why is this the right time to leave your West Town space?

It’s about serving an evolving global collector community. De-emphasizing the role of a fixed physical location is what’s best for our artists and collectors, and for myself. I love what I'm doing — I've been doing this for 12 and a half years now — and I'm really excited about expanding our shift in direction.

Question 3: Can you tell us more about what this new approach means for collectors?

It’s a new world of bringing art directly to more people, and allowing them to discover things on their own. 

I feel it's very important to see art in person. You have to love what you see to own it. We’ve always had a great online presence — we take as many photos as we can, and try to make the digital experience as interactive as possible. But online photos never capture the art’s true essence. Now we can be in many different places at once. 

Question 4: What does it mean for artists?

It's gonna be great for artists. They're no longer showing in just one space, or in just one market. Wherever they’re based and wherever they want to show their work, we can partner with them to put together the right plan. There are so many opportunities to figure out what we can do together to grow both of our businesses. 

Question 5: What are you going to miss most about West Town?

I’ll miss our monthly exhibitions — especially the openings, and seeing so many familiar faces. 

Beyond that, it's hard to say what I'm gonna miss, because Vertical is not going away. We’re not leaving the Chicago art community. We're still going to be having shows in Chicago, so I'm going to see our local collectors and artists there. We’re just doing more shows in other places. I can't wait for people to see the work we’re presenting at Aqua.