Friedrich Petzel Gallery first opened its doors in New York City in 1994 on Wooster Street in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood. In 2000, the gallery relocated to 537 West 22nd Street in Chelsea’s newly burgeoning arts district, further expanding in 2006 to include a separate neighboring space dedicated to smaller exhibitions, artists’ projects, and performances. In the fall of 2008, Petzel Gallery and Galerie Gisela Capitain joined forces to open Capitain Petzel, which is housed in a glass-encased, architecturally significant 1964 Modernist building from the Socialist era located in Berlin’s Mitte section.

This collective effort created the unique opportunity to unite artists represented by both galleries on a global scale, with ambitious exhibitions being presented in tandem with the development of an original program specific to the Berlin-based space. Petzel’s program is centered around an eclectic group of international contemporary artists, all of whom are critically acclaimed for their distinct creative processes.