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Brent Sikkema, founder of a well-known contemporary-art gallery in New York, was confirmed dead by his art gallery on Tuesday. He was 75.
Police in Brazil told CNN Brasil that Sikkema was found dead in his apartment in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. He was discovered with stab wounds, which could have been caused by a box cutter or screwdriver, according to CNN.
“It is with great sadness that the gallery announces the passing of our beloved founder,” the Sikkema Jenkins & Co. art gallery said in a statement. “The gallery grieves this tremendous loss and will continue on in his spirit.”
Scott Briscoe, manager at the gallery, declined to comment beyond the official statement.
Sikkema’s lawyer Simone Nunes told Brazil-based newspaper O Globo that she attempted to contact Sikkema over the weekend but couldn’t reach him. She said she found him dead when she entered his home with a key she had from watching over his place when he wasn’t in Rio, the newspaper reported.
Firefighters in Rio de Janeiro removed the body from the apartment, according to local reports, and brought it to the Legal Medical Institute in Rio. The Washington Post could not independently verify these details.
“We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Rio de Janeiro,” a State Department spokesman said when asked about Sikkema’s death. “We offer our sincerest condolences to the family. We are providing all appropriate assistance to the family. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.”
Sikkema, born in 1948 and raised in Illinois, graduated from the now-closed San Francisco Art Institute, according to a biography on the gallery’s website. He started working in art galleries in 1971 as a director of exhibitions at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, N.Y. He later worked as a director of Vision Gallery in Boston from 1976 to 1980 and then became owner of that gallery from 1980 to 1989.
In 1991, Sikkema moved to New York City and opened his own contemporary-art gallery called Wooster Gardens, named after the location on Wooster Street. In 1999, the gallery moved to the Chelsea arts district, where it eventually became Sikkema Jenkins & Co., the name it still holds.
The gallery, widely known for representing contemporary Black artists, currently represents 32 artists, including Kara Walker, Louis Fratino and Sheila Hicks, among others.
The program also includes Jeffrey Gibson, an artist who is representing the United States in the 60th annual Venice Biennale. Gibson, who is of Cherokee descent and a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, will be the first Indigenous artist to represent the United States at the event.
Rachel Tashjian contributed to this report.
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