Miami Beach Dealer Gabriel Kilongo Faces New Non-Payment Lawsuit

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Miami Beach gallery owner Gabriel Kilongo of Jupiter gallery is facing a new lawsuit from artist Yirui Jia, who claims he withheld funds from her art sales. Filed in September in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Jia's suit alleges she received only $2,000 of a $42,000 sum owed for five paintings sold after her 2025 solo show at Jupiter's Miami Beach location.

This marks the fourth lawsuit against Kilongo in the past two years, with previous allegations including non-payment, art damage, and withheld artworks, as initially reported by Urgent Matter. While a lawsuit concerning damaged artwork has reportedly been settled, others remain pending. According to Jia's complaint, Kilongo provided written assurances of payment, citing a“very tight cash flow” and“waiting for a few things to clear on the gallery's end” in an exchange quoted in the lawsuit. However, the suit claims he failed to pay, thereby violating their consignment agreement.

A sales report from Jupiter, included in the lawsuit, shows the five paintings sold for prices ranging from $2,000 to $32,000. Two works were acquired by Bing Zhang, a Vancouver-based buyer, while the remaining three were purchased by Bradley Chubb, the Buffalo Bills linebacker who was traded from the Miami Dolphins earlier this year. Kilongo has not yet responded to Jia's complaint or to ARTnews's request for comment.

Kilongo established Jupiter in 2022, having previously worked as an associate at Mitchell-Innes & Nash gallery in New York. The gallery has participated in prominent art fairs such as Untitled, Expo Chicago, and Zona Maco, and continued to do so amid the lawsuits, including appearing at Independent New York this past May. Kilongo had previously highlighted his relationship with Jia, whose work was featured in a 2024 solo exhibition at Mitchell-Innes & Nash, prior to that gallery's transition to an advisory role.

Kilongo previously stated,“We have successfully placed works by artists-like Yirui, for instance-in prominent collections, including those of some museum trustees. It's always incredibly gratifying to see how her work holds up along other historical artists while still maintaining Yirui's distinct and recognizable identity.”

In May, Urgent Matter reported that Kilongo surrendered his New York gallery space to his landlord and agreed to pay $25,000. It is unclear if Jupiter still operates in Miami Beach; its website indicates that its most recent exhibition, a two-person show for George Clinton and Gerasimos Floratos, concluded in Miami Beach this past February.

Artnet News columnist Kenny Schachter reported that Jupiter was administratively dissolved on September 25, the day after Jia filed her lawsuit. Schachter's column also noted that Kilongo, born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in Israel, was detained by ICE and has since been released. Schachter attributed this confirmation to James Snyder, director of New York's Jewish Museum, though ARTnews could not verify a direct connection beyond Kilongo's participation on a host committee for a young collectors' event at the museum last October. Kilongo's record is not accessible in ICE's detainee tracking database. Schachter did not disclose that he had exhibited with Jupiter in 2025.

Other artists who have shown work at Jupiter include Emmanuel Louisnord Desir, Baseera Khan, Marcus Leslie Singleton, and Travis Fish. The first lawsuit against Kilongo's business was filed in 2025 by Jade Thacker, who claimed she was owed $204,000 for an unsold work and unreturned pieces from a 2024 exhibition. Kilongo has not responded to Thacker's lawsuit. In February 2026, Location Incorporated, a New York entity, sued Kilongo's gallery for $1.6 million in damages to a sculpture displayed at the Untitled Art, Miami Beach fair in 2024. Although the artist was not named, Jupiter exhibited a work by New York-based artist Izhar Patkin that year. That lawsuit was later dismissed and settled, as reported by Urgent Matter.

In March 2026, artist Stephanie Pierce also sued Kilongo with similar allegations to Thacker, seeking $100,000 in damages for sold works from 2023 and alleging withheld artworks. In this instance, Kilongo denied the claims, representing himself and stating that“payment relating to the works has been made and that the return of the remaining works is actively in progress, with a majority already returned.”

Source: ARTnews

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