Contemporary art gallery
Encyclopedia
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
is shown for exhibition and/or for sale. The term "art gallery" is commonly used to mean art museum (especially in British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
), the rooms displaying art in any museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
, or in the original sense, of any large or long room.
Identity, function and locality
A contemporary gallery is commercial or privately-funded and usually has a second-tier status positioned between the first-tier status of a national, state-run or corporate museum, and the third-tier of minor galleries which include artist-run galleries, retail galleries, and artist's co-operatives.Commercial galleries are for-profit, privately owned businesses dealing in artworks by contemporary artists. Galleries run for the public good
Public good
In economics, a public good is a good that is non-rival and non-excludable. Non-rivalry means that consumption of the good by one individual does not reduce availability of the good for consumption by others; and non-excludability means that no one can be effectively excluded from using the good...
by cities, churches, art collectives, not-for-profit organizations, and local or national governments are usually termed Non-Profit Galleries. Many of these, such as the Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
have an aspect of charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
and can be arranged around a Trust or estate. Galleries run by artists are sometimes known as Artist Run Initiatives, and may be temporary or otherwise different from the traditional gallery format.
Contemporary art galleries are often established together in urban centers such as the Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
district of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, widely considered to be the center of the American contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
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 Taos art colony
Taos art colony
The Taos art colony is an art colony founded in Taos, New Mexico by artists attracted by the rich culture of the Taos Pueblo and beautiful landscape. Hispanic craftsmanship of furniture, tin work and more played a role in creating a multicultural tradition of art work in the area.In 1898 a visit...
in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and St Ives, Cornwall
St Ives, Cornwall
St Ives is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial...
; Hill End
Hill End, New South Wales
Hill End is a former gold mining town in New South Wales, Australia, in Bathurst Regional Council. It owes its existence to the New South Wales gold rush of the 1850s, and at its peak in the early 1870s it had a population estimated at 8,000 served by two newspapers, five banks, eight churches, and...
, Braidwood
Braidwood
-Places:* Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia* Braidwood, South Lanarkshire, Scotland* Braidwood, Illinois, United States of America-People:* Thomas Braidwood , founder of a school for the deaf in Scotland...
and Byron Bay in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. 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.
Exhibitions
CuratorCurator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
s 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 are considered performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
and at other times theater. While many galleries exhibit painting and sculpture of all types and movements like Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
, Pop Art
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
, Photo realism, Color Field
Color Field
Color Field painting is a style of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the 1940s and 1950s. It was inspired by European modernism and closely related to Abstract Expressionism, while many of its notable early proponents were among the pioneering Abstract Expressionists...
, Minimalism
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
, Lyrical Abstraction
Lyrical Abstraction
Lyrical Abstraction is either of two related but distinctly separate trends in Post-war Modernist painting, and a third definition is the usage as a descriptive term. It is a descriptive term characterizing a type of abstract painting related to Abstract Expressionism; in use since the 1940s...
, Realism
Realism (visual arts)
Realism in the visual arts is a style that depicts the actuality of what the eyes can see. The term is used in different senses in art history; it may mean the same as illusionism, the representation of subjects with visual mimesis or verisimilitude, or may mean an emphasis on the actuality of...
, and Postminimalism
Postminimalism
Postminimalism is an art term coined by Robert Pincus-Witten in 1971 used in various artistic fields for work which is influenced by, or attempts to develop and go beyond, the aesthetic of minimalism...
etc. Conversely, some works of contemporary art are not shown in a gallery. Land art
Land art
Land art, Earthworks , or Earth art is an art movement which emerged in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which landscape and the work of art are inextricably linked...
, performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
, internet art
Internet art
Internet art is a form of digital artwork distributed via the Internet. This form of art has circumvented the traditional dominance of the gallery and museum system, delivering aesthetic experiences via the Internet. In many cases, the viewer is drawn into some kind of interaction with the work...
, mail art
Mail art
Mail art is a worldwide cultural movement that began in the early 1960s and involves sending visual art through the international postal system. Mail Art is also known as Postal Art or Correspondence Art...
and installation art
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
and other emerging forms also often exist outside a gallery due to being site-specific. Documentation of these kinds of art such as photographic records, are often shown and sold in galleries however, as are preliminary or process drawings and collages (such as those generated by Christo as part of the proposal to governing bodies when applying to install land works). British artist Richard Long
Richard Long
-English political figures:*Richard Long , Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Henry VIII; knighted in 1537; MP for Southwark...
manages to combine his core intentions by linking the materials used in his land art, to make gallery art. Andy Goldsworthy
Andy Goldsworthy
Andy Goldsworthy, OBE is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist producing site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. He lives and works in Scotland.-Life and career:The son of F...
does so as well.
Business
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 TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
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 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 (not to be confused with the famous show by the same name
Armory Show
Many exhibitions have been held in the vast spaces of U.S. National Guard armories, but the Armory Show refers to the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art that was organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors...
in 1913), which charges admission. These fairs have been criticized by artists as over-commercializing contemporary art.
There are also many not-for-profit and art-collective galleries which follow different business models, as well as vanity galleries
Vanity gallery
A vanity gallery is an art gallery that charges artists fees to exhibit their work and makes most of its money from artists rather than from sales to the public. Some vanity galleries charge a lump sum to arrange an exhibition, while others ask artists to pay regular membership fees and then...
which prey on unsavvy artists.
Art districts
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 c. art galleries are strongly associated with the process of gentrificationGentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
, 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.
USA
- ChelseaChelsea, ManhattanChelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
, 57th Street57th Street (Manhattan)57th Street is one of New York City's major east-west thoroughfares, which runs east-west in the Midtown section of the borough of Manhattan, from the New York City Department of Sanitation's dock on the Hudson River at the West Side Highway to a small park overlooking the East River built on a...
, Upper East SideUpper East SideThe Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
and Madison Avenue, SoHoSoHoSoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...
, Lower East SideLower East SideThe Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
, TriBeCaTriBeCaTribeca is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York in the United States. Its name is an acronym based on the words "Triangle below Canal Street", and is properly bounded by Canal Street, West Street, Broadway, and Vesey Street...
, and DumboDUMBO, BrooklynDumbo, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It encompasses two sections: one located between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, which connect Brooklyn to Manhattan across the East River, and another that continues...
, and Williamsburg, BrooklynWilliamsburg, BrooklynWilliamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
, New York City. - The Railyard District and Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New MexicoCanyon Road, Santa Fe, New MexicoCanyon Road is an art district, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, with over a hundred art galleries and studios exhibiting Native American art and antiquities, traditional and modern Hispanic art, regional contemporary art, international folk art and international contemporary art.Canyon Road had its...
. - Gallery Row, Downtown Los AngelesDowntown Los AngelesDowntown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
, Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. - River North Gallery District, Near North Side, ChicagoRiver North Gallery District, Near North Side, ChicagoThe River North Gallery District, in Chicago, is in the Near North Side, Chicago. It hosts the largest concentration of art galleries in the United States, outside of Manhattan. A common definition puts the District in the area north of the Merchandise Mart, south of Chicago Avenue, east of...
. - West LoopNear West Side, ChicagoThe Near West Side, one of the 77 defined community areas of Chicago, is located , adjacent to the downtown central business district . The rich history of the Near West Side of Chicago has its genesis in the Hull House phenomenon...
, Chicago. - Design District, Miami, FloridaMiami, FloridaMiami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
- Wynwood Art DistrictWynwood Art DistrictThe Wynwood Art District is a district of the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is home to over 70 galleries, museums and collections...
, Miami, FloridaMiami, FloridaMiami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625... - Worth AvenueWorth AvenueWorth Avenue, sometimes referred to as the Rodeo Drive of Florida, is a famous upscale shopping district in Palm Beach, Florida, in the United States. The street stretches four blocks from Lake Worth to the Atlantic Ocean. The street first became fashionable after the construction in 1918 of the...
, Palm Beach, FloridaPalm Beach, FloridaThe Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth... - Bergamot StationBergamot StationBergamot Station is a facility housing many art galleries in Santa Monica, California, USA.-History:The name "Bergamot Station" dates back to 1875 when it was a stop and car storage area on the steam powered Los Angeles and Independence Railroad from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles - as well...
, Santa Monica, CaliforniaSanta Monica, CaliforniaSanta Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
Australia
- PaddingtonPaddington, New South WalesPaddington is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Paddington is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Sydney and the Municipality of Woollahra...
and Woollahra, Glebe and the RocksThe Rocks, New South WalesThe Rocks is an urban locality, tourist precinct and historic area of Sydney's city centre, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, immediately north-west of the Sydney central business district...
, SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... - Bourke StreetBourke Street, MelbourneBourke Street is one of Melbourne's best known streets. Historically been regarded as Melbourne's "second street", with the main street being Collins Street and "busier than Bourke Street" is a popular catchphrase. Bourke Street has traditionally been Melbourne's entertainment hub...
and SouthbankSouthbank, VictoriaSouthbank is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located direct south of the Yarra River opposite Melbourne's Hoddle Grid. The northernmost area is considered part of the Central Business District and Central Activities District of the city. Its Local Government Area are the...
MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
China
- 798 Art Zone and Feijiacun, BeijingBeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China. - m50 Art District, ShanghaiShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China.
Other
- West Queen West, Distillery District, YorkvilleYorkville, TorontoYorkville is a district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, well known for its shopping. It is a former village, annexed by the City of Toronto. It is roughly bounded by Bloor Street to the south, Davenport Road to the north, Yonge Street to the east and Avenue Road to the west, and is considered part of...
, Grange ParkGrange parkGrange Park is a prominent and well-used public park in downtown Toronto, located south of the Art Gallery of Ontario, beside the Ontario College of Art and Design University , and north of University Settlement House, at the north end of John Street...
Toronto, Canada. - Insadong DistrictInsadongInsadong is a dong, or neighborhood of the Jongno-gu district of the South Korean city of Seoul. The main street is Insadong-gil, which is connected to a multitude of alleys that lead deeper into the district...
, SeoulSeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, Korea
Contemporary art by country
- Australian contemporary art
- Canadian contemporary artCanadian Contemporary ArtCanadian Contemporary Art can refer simply to any visual art made in Canada currently or by living Canadian artists. However, it is a term that more accurately refers to Canadian visual, media, performance, video, and other artistic and/or conceptual practices that are critically and...
- Portuguese contemporary artPortuguese contemporary artPortuguese contemporary art can refer to any visual art made in Portugal currently or by living Portuguese artists.In Portugal, after the democratic change in 1974, a period of confusion and experimentation followed. The eighties signified a change clearly marked by the exhibition of 83 named After...