David Zwirner was incorporated in 1992. The gallery opened in January, 1993 on Greene Street in the Soho section of New York, and moved to 525 West 19th Street (Chelsea) in September 2002. In September 2006, the gallery expanded to include exhibition spaces at 519 and 533 West 19th Street.

The focus of the gallery is to show the work of emerging artists from the United States and abroad. David Zwirner represents the following artists: Tomma Abts; Francis Alÿs; Mamma Andersson; Michaël Borremans; R. Crumb; Stan Douglas; Marcel Dzama; Isa Genzken; On Kawara; Raoul de Keyser; Rachel Khedoori; Toba Khedoori; The Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark; John McCracken; Jockum Nordström; Chris Ofili; Raymond Pettibon; Neo Rauch; The Estate of Jason Rhoades; Daniel Richter; Michael S. Riedel; Thomas Ruff; Katy Schimert; Yutaka Sone; Diana Thater; Luc Tuymans; James Welling; Christopher Williams; Sue Williams; Yan Pei-Ming; and Lisa Yuskavage. Gallery artists have been included in many important exhibitions, such as Documenta (1992, 1997, 2002, 2007); the Venice Biennale (1997, 1999, 2001, 2007); the Carnegie International (1995, 2000, 2004-5); the Lyon Biennale (1997); the Kwangju Biennale (1995, 1997, 2000); the Johannesburg Biennale (1997); the Munster Sculpture Project (1997, 2007); and the Whitney Biennal (1995, 1997, 2004, 2006). Numerous publications and monographs are available on all gallery artists.

Zwirner & Wirth, located at 32 E. 69th Street, handles and exhibits the works of contemporary masters. Artists whose works are available at Zwirner & Wirth include: Joseph Beuys; Georg Baselitz; Marcel Broodthaers; Dan Flavin; Mike Kelley; Anselm Kiefer; Jannis Kounellis; Mario Merz; Bruce Nauman; Nam June Paik; Blinky Palermo; Sigmar Polke; Gerhard Richter; Dieter Roth ; and Cy Twombly . The gallery also handles the work of modern masters including: Jean Arp; Alexander Calder; Max Ernst; Lucio Fontana; Alberto Giacometti; Rene Magritte; Francis Picabia; and Pablo Picasso .