UTA has named Arthur Lewis to oversee the Hollywood talent agency’s fine arts programs, which provide visual artists with Hollywood-style representation as well as a physical space to exhibit their work.
Lewis succeeds Josh Roth, who died unexpectedly in September at age 40. Roth founded UTA Fine Arts in 2015 and opened UTA Artist Space the following year.
The contemporary art space was first located near downtown Los Angeles, in Boyle Heights. It later moved to its current location in Beverly Hills, close to UTA’s corporate headquarters. The space was designed by acclaimed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who was a client of Roth’s.
UTA is the only agency among Hollywood’s biggest four talent agencies to devote a department to visual artist representation.
Lewis is an art collector who is on the Board of Overseers at the Hammer Museum at UCLA. He previously worked as executive vice president of the New York design office for the retailer Kohl’s, where he oversaw product design and development.
He has also held leadership roles at HSN, Hautelook and Gap.
“As a Los Angeleno and a collector, I’ve witnessed firsthand how important it is for artists to have space to experiment as they embark on ambitious career paths,” Lewis said in a statement Tuesday. “My vision for UTA is to act as a partner to help realize artists’ dreams, and build toward their futures.”
Lewis, whose new title is creative director of UTA Fine Arts and UTA Artist Space, is expected to report to Jeremy Zimmer, the chief executive officer at UTA.
“Having someone of Arthur’s stature, vision and taste join UTA will be an invaluable asset for the artists we represent,” said Zimmer in a statement.