Contemporary art gallery
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A contemporary art gallery is normally a commercial
Galleries in the market for art
At the high end of the
Business models
There are many operational models that galleries follow. The most common business model is that of the for-profit, privately owned gallery. This is an extremely competitive market but one that may yield great profits. As a general rule, commercial galleries do not charge admission to the public, perhaps in a nod to the egalitarian philosophies of many artists and critics and to encourage attendance, or perhaps in the interests of just good business. Instead, they profit by taking a cut of the art's sales; the exact percentage varies. Some galleries in cities like Tokyo and in New York charge the artists a flat rate per day or per week, though this is considered distasteful in some international art markets. Inevitably the business of contemporary art has in recent decades become increasingly internationalized and commercialized.
Commercial galleries often choose to represent artists exclusively, giving them the opportunity to have solo shows regularly. They usually promote the artist's shows by cultivating collectors, making press contacts, and trying to get critical reviews. Most reputable galleries absorb the cost of printing invitations to the opening, guidebooks, and other P.R. publications. Some galleries self-publish or help to arrange publishing for art books and monographs concerning their artists. They sometimes provide a stipend or otherwise ensure the artist has enough money to make ends meet. One idiosyncrasy of contemporary art galleries is their aversion to signing business contracts, although this is changing due to artists taking more control of their output and saleability through professional practice information provided by artists' associations.
Large commercial art fairs where galleries and other dealers show their best artists and sell works over a period of a week or so have taken the art world by storm in recent years. The biggest of these is the Armory Show in New York[citation needed] (not to be confused with the famous show by the same name in 1913), which charges admission. These fairs have been criticized by artists as over-commercializing contemporary art.
There are also many not-for-profit, artist-run spaces and art-collective galleries which follow different business models, as well as vanity galleries which prey on unsavvy artists.
Exhibitions
Curators often create group shows that say something about contemporary issues or a certain theme, trend in art, or group of associated artists. Galleries often choose to represent artists exclusively, giving them the opportunity to show regularly. Some have a narrow focus while others are more eclectic.
Although primarily concerned with providing a space to show works of visual art, art galleries are sometimes used to host other artistic activities, such as music concerts, poetry readings, or performances, which may be considered
The nature of some forms of
Alternative galleries
Galleries run for the
Art districts
Art galleries are often established together in urban centers such as the Chelsea district of New York, widely considered to be the center of the American contemporary art world. Most large urban areas have several art galleries, and most towns will be home to at least one. However, they may also be found in small communities, and remote areas where artists congregate, e.g. the Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art (Montsoreau) in France, the Chinati Foundation (Marfa) in United States, the Taos art colony (Taos) in New Mexico and St Ives, Cornwall; (Hill End), (Braidwood) and (Byron Bay) in New South Wales Contemporary art galleries are usually free and open to the public; however, some are semi-private, more exclusive, and by appointment only.
Galleries tend to cluster in certain neighborhoods within cosmopolitan cities for economic and practical reasons, mainly that it is possible for the buyers and general public to view more art if they can travel by foot. In the past galleries have tended to cluster in neighborhoods with affordable real-estate due to the unprofitable nature of the business. However, in the 21st century art galleries are strongly associated with the process of gentrification, and prime real estate for Chelsea galleries is not affordable for unprofitable galleries. Generally, cities that have less centralized art districts are faring poorly in terms of market share.
List of art districts by area name, city and country
United States
- Gallery Row and The Arts District, Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles
- Roosevelt Row, Phoenix, Arizona
- Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, California
- River North Gallery District, Near North Side, Chicago
- West Loop, Chicago
- Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Westport, Fairfield County, Connecticut
- Miami, Florida
- Miami, Florida
- Worth Avenue, Palm Beach, Florida
- Downtown Arts and Museum District, The Railyard District and Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- East End & West End, Commercial Street, Bradford Street, Provincetown, Massachusetts
United Kingdom
- Cork Street, Fitzrovia, Hoxton, Mayfair and Vyner Street in London, UK. Bartlett Street in Bath, UK
Australia
- Paddington, Woollahra Darlinghurst, Glebe and the Rocks, Sydney
China
- 798 Art Zone, Caochangdi and Feijiacun, Beijing, China
- m50 Art District, Shanghai, China
France
- The Marais, Paris
- Komunuma, Romainville[3]
- Chevalier Roze, Marseille[4]
Other
- UAE
- Toronto, Canada.
- Insadong District, Seoul, Korea
- San Telmo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Jordaan, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Gillman Barracks, Singapore
See also
References
- ^ "The Castelli Method". Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ Moureau, Nathalie; Sagot-Duvauroux, Dominique (2012). "Four Business Models in Contemporary Art". International Journal of Arts Management. 14 (3): 44–56.
- ^ Sansom, Anna. "'Grand Paris': new art complex to open in Parisian suburb". www.theartnewspaper.com. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
- ^ "Chevalier Roze : un nouveau pôle d'art contemporain au cœur de Marseille". Gomet (in French). 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2020-09-27.