Meet New York’s 100 Top Founders in the Art Space

Dasha Zhukova

Co-Founder of Artsy

Dasha Zhukova is an entrepreneur and investor whose work is at the intersection of art, architecture, and culture. In 2008, she founded the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow–– an institution committed to providing access to global culture through a rotating exhibition series and creative content production. The iconic Rem Koolhaas-designed structure also acts as a home for Russia’s first and only contemporary art archive. Through the Garage Archive Collection, the museum conducts original research and translation to help create a digital platform for the study of postwar contemporary art. Garage has published 130 books and catalogues by authors ranging from Susan Sontag to Walter Benjamin and has had a print run of more than half a million copies distributed worldwide. With education at its core, Garage acts as vehicle for exploration and discovery for nearly a million visitors annually. Dasha led the strategy for cultural urbanization behind the establishment of New Holland Island as the preeminent public recreation space of St. Petersburg. She stewarded the redevelopment of the historic location, founded by Peter the Great in the early 18th century, and directed the project to completion until it opened its doors to visitors in 2011. New Holland Island acts as a point of convergence, with restored classic architecture in dialogue with modern galleries, parks and playgrounds, seasonal festivals, and public art. Motivated to scale access to contemporary culture, Dasha founded Garage Magazine in 2011. Since acquired by Vice Media, Garage Magazine fosters collaborations between established and emerging artists and serves as mechanism for sparking conversation between art, fashion, current events, and content creation. Published bi-annually, Garage Magazine allows readers to immerse themselves in the values of its eponymous museum in the comforts of their own homes. Dasha is a founder of both Artsy, a digital platform that democratizes the process buying and selling art, as well as the IRIS Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the understanding and development of contemporary culture throughout the world. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum in Moscow, and the Shed, where she is a founding member. Born in Moscow, she was educated in Los Angeles, graduating from UCSB. Dasha lives in New York City with her two children.

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About Artsy, Garage magazine: Artsy is the largest online art marketplace with more than 1 million artworks by over 100,000 artists.

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