NEW YORK—Almost as soon as Zach Feuer appeared on the Chelsea scene in 2000, he established himself as one of the young dealers to watch. He has launched the careers of artists such as Dana Schutz and Kevin Zucker and has quickly won a reputation as one of this country’s most influential dealers.

His success was given a key seal of approval in December when ArtInfo’s sister-publication, Art + Auction, identified him as a “Rising Power” in its annual Power Issue.

He talked with ArtInfo about his career and his feelings about the current super-charged art market over coffee at his Zach Feuer (LFL) Gallery on West 24th Street.

Zach, you started as a dealer when you were still a student.

[Yes, my gallery career] started as a student project in my apartment in Boston when I was 19. I put up a show for six weeks.

I went to a very progressive art school—the Museum School—and for my last semester, I was able to move to New York. That was my final project, and for my final review, I brought back postcards and pictures of my empty gallery and said, “This is what I did this semester,” and they passed me.

You were passed for an empty gallery?

The gallery was empty for my final review because the opening was a week after the end of school. I didn't sell much of anything from the first few shows.

Who were the artists who first got you recognition?

Holly Coulis, Dana Shutz, Danica Phelps and Kevin Zucker were the first ones.

How did you discover artists like that in the first place?

Primarily, it was through artists’ referrals. Kevin and Dana were both recommended by other artists first, so that’s how I got them. I trust the taste of the artists in the gallery more than anyone else’s, so when they give me a reference, I go and check it out.

Also, I was part of the same peer group as all of them, so I just knew them, saw them around. That first year I was probably doing five to eight studio visits a week and asking people who they thought I should go and check out. At the time, everyone was a student or unknown so it wasn’t like I was competing with 20 other galleries to show them like it is now.

How do you respond to people who say that there’s a Zach Feuer ‘look’?

Something I’ve been fighting against is not to have a look. That’s really important to me. Certainly, we get accused of having the Zach Feuer Gallery look, but I want every artist to function in his/her own space within the gallery. I’d like to think that the gallery is more an open venue than a curated project. I’m definitely an art dealer and not a curator. So I need to trust my artists’ aesthetic more than I trust my own at times.

I haven’t heard many dealers say that. How do you feel when other dealers call themselves curators?

The worst thing is when people pretend they’re curators. I’m a small businessperson who exists to support what my artists are doing, not to make my own big statement. It is nice when people write about me, and the recognition that I get feels great, but I want the shows and the artists to be noticed more than the gallery.

You’ve opened a gallery in Los Angeles in partnership with Nils Kantor. Do you have different intentions there?

I wanted to have access to what’s getting made there and hopefully have my artists influence what’s getting made there. Also, the overheads in L.A. are very low, so I can do very ambitious projects and not have the fear of going broke every month.

The gallery is about twice the size of the New York space, and we’re taking over another little gallery next door, so the combination will be about 4,500 to 5000 square feet. Here I have about 2,000 square feet. So there’s just more space. We were able to do an installation of Phoebe Washburn that was much bigger in scale than we could do here. I want the artists to feel that they can make work that’s bigger than the gallery, and I’ll still be able to show it.

Is the L.A. scene completely different to here in New York?

Completely different. When you go to the galleries in Culver City or Chinatown or Wilshire, you don’t see 25 people in the gallery. On a Saturday afternoon here in New York, we’ll get 300 or 400 people coming in. If a gallery in L.A. gets 50 or 100 people they feel, “Wow! We had a great day …” That’s the one downside.