Brent Sikkema, founder of New York art gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co., was found dead at age 75 in an apartment in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, according to reports in Brazilian publications.
Citing a report from the local Fire Department, São Paulo-based newspaper Estadão reported that Sikkema was found with stab wounds. An investigation is still ongoing. CNN Brasil reported that the injuries could have been caused by scissors, a box cutter or a screwdriver.
The gallery confirmed Sikkema's death in an email statement Tuesday. A representative for Sikkema Jenkins & Co., when contacted by ARTnews, declined to comment on Brazilian media reports that he was found dead in Rio de Janeiro.
Sikkema Jenkins & Co. is a well-regarded gallery in New York and beyond. Its program includes artists such as Jeffrey Gibson, the United States representative at the upcoming Venice Biennale, and Kara Walker, who had her first solo exhibition in New York with the gallery in 1995 and has since had 11 solo exhibitions there.
Also part of the cast are artists such as Anohni, Tony Feher, Louis Fratino, Sheila Hicks, Vik Muniz, Maria Nepomuceno, Jennifer Packer and Luiz Zerbini. Well-regarded artists such as Deana Lawson, Amy Sillman, Mark Bradford, Arlene Shechet and Shahzia Sikander also held exhibitions at the Sikkema gallery early in their careers.
Sikkema launched his gallery as Wooster Gardens in SoHo in 1991. Michael Jenkins, who had worked with the gallery since its founding, was hired as director in 1996 and became a partner in 2003. In 1999, Sikkema Jenkins & Co. moved to moving to the heart of Chelsea, where it is currently located, close to mega galleries such as Gagosian, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth and Pace.
Before running Sikkema Jenkins & Co., Sikkema opened a gallery in Boston in 1976. His first gallery job was in 1971, when he became director of exhibitions at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York.
Source: ArtNews