Hang Ten

Whether it’s the first wave, second wave, or third wave, the endless summer of Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc on every shore around the art world. For commercial galleries that haven’t wiped out already, it’s sink or swim.

Buoyed by multimillion-dollar bailouts from the US taxpayer, the Swiss behemoth Hauser & Wirth appears unsinkable, avoiding layoffs and finding fresh legs for new spaces and initiatives. But now some of its top riders are bravely bidding farewell to the golden barrel. , the Canadian who initially helped open White Cube in Hong Kong, defected to the Cube’s arch-competitor in 2015 to direct the conglomerate’s all-in-one lifestyle compound in Los Angeles. Early this year Steele was bumped up to a partner at the Alpine powerhouse, but in July he decided to find his own wave with his husband, the design dealer Ulysses de Santi. Apparently the compulsively pragmatic H&W didn’t issue a non-compete clause, signaling that they will continue to raftup with Steele. One way to describe this menage-a-quatre is: “They’re special friends.”