8
reasons why most people don´t buy contemporary art
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Many relevant commercial contemporary art galleries (not all of course) are intimidating, more or less elitist, and they embrace the exclusivity concept. This paradigm reinforces the idea that ordinary people cannot afford the works of art that are sold there. Distancing is produced by increasing the level of friction with the average person. The greater the obstacles for you to feel comfortable and welcome, the greater the feeling that what they sell is not for you, and therefore only a few chosen clients, who apparently can "appreciate and understand" it, can buy it.
Can´t the general public appreciate contemporary art, or are marketing strategies and a lack of transparency keeping them away? What are most galleries doing to keep the general public from approaching them?
1. The interior architecture
The interior of the commercial gallery is usually designed to make you feel out of place: it looks aseptic, cold and uninviting. In museums, the white cube model has prevailed, and it is useful and adaptable to the specificities of each exhibition. Commercial contemporary art galleries have borrowed that same clinical or brutalist style, in order to be equated with the museum institution but without many of the elements that characterize a museum (extensive and regular opening times, publications, educational programs, fees for artists, etc.).
2. The front door
The front door of a commercial gallery is usually a heavy glass door. This is a somewhat passive-aggressive tactic that seems to invite you in but you have to ring a bell or push with all your might to gain access. Again, it is a friction technique, the first hurdle you must overcome to gain access. You will never find an automatic door with a motion detector that slides open gracefully and smoothly in front of you. However, most businesses where you shop daily use this type of door to facilitate easy access (retail stores, pharmacies, supermarkets, etc.)
3. The
counter
The vast majority of major galleries have a staffed counter at the entrance. This element is part of the friction technique. Although admission to a gallery is free, having to go through the large white counter makes you feel that maybe you should pay, or that it's free but that the experience and your behavior should be as it would be in a public museum. However, the staff behind the counter generally are trainee interns or employees on precarious contracts who spend their entire working day there. They are often willing to inform with a smile if you ask them something.
4. The hidden prices
Another way to create this friction with the client is to never put prices next to the artworks. This is a way of highlighting that you are in a place where average people are not invited to buy, but in which, paradoxically, all the exhibited works are for sale. To find the prices you will have to look for them, and they will surely be in a drawer or in a discreet pile on the counter. In this way, the levels of obstruction and transparency are increased again, in contrast to what every current business strives to offer: accessibility and honesty with the customer.
5. Closing days
Commercial galleries have business hours, but not like any other businesses. They close on Sundays. But why do many of them also close on Mondays? Since Sundays are the busiest day of the week, many museums close on Mondays. This way, commercial galleries once again project the idea that they are something more than a business open to the public and have more shared genes with the "museum". If the galleries wanted to attract ordinary public interested in art and culture, wouldn't it make more sense for them to remain open on Sunday, the day of highest cultural consumption of exhibitions in many cities?
6.
The pre-opening
Openings are, in principle, the most important day in the cycle of an exhibition in a contemporary art gallery. In some countries, it is common to hold a preview only for collectors and the media (an elitist and professional event that the general public cannot attend). If you do not receive an invitation to this pre-opening, you are not a preferred customer for this type of commercial business and only from the next day will you be able to buy what the VIPs have decided not to buy. This preferential treatment for some chosen ones is another mechanism of distancing and friction with the ordinary person.
7. The opening
All of the gallery's efforts to get an ordinary individual through the door will be focused on the opening day. Isn't it strange that you're mostly welcome that day? Those attending the event are seen as free influencers who will spread the success and buzz of the moment. To achieve maximum promotion, the galleries break the enumerated frictions and open their doors wide. A heterogeneous audience floods the entrance and sidewalks, and curious passers-by might join in. Free drinks, cava or canapés are distributed, and even DJs create a party atmosphere. The rest of the time, most of the galleries remain practically empty since most of the people who visit an exhibition do so on its opening day.
8. High prices
We all imagine that a contemporary work of art is expensive and that we cannot afford it. A quick glance at a price list at an art exhibition confirms this. But, did you know that the artist only receives 50% of the sale price of a work of art? This and other issues inspired the creation of Fair Art Trade (www.fairarttrade.net), the only certified international platform for fair trade in contemporary art. F curates and offers profficient art in a sustainable, ethical and democratic way, supporting 100% the artists career, as well as a broad spectrum of people deserving accesible, deep, relevant and intelligent art.
In conclusion...︎︎︎
In conclusion, many relevant commercial galleries are well aware of the obstacles they put up to make you feel uncomfortable or unwanted as a client. They are so
aware that they blow up the obstacles when a mainstream crowd is convenient for projecting a successful event. These
strategies are premeditated and standardized to convey the image of
elitist art that provides the excuse to charge subjective and/or
exaggerated prices, and exclude people with low/average purchasing
power.
The opacity and deregulation of this market always works against you as a consumer, but also against the majority of professional living artists, whose work should be accessible to all kinds of audiences (as accesible as other cultural manifestations like most music, cinema, dance, theater, etc.).
It is disappointing to realise that all the resources an art gallery dedicates to hindering your direct relationship with contemporary art exist to the detriment of the artists work displayed in a show. All of them combined form a barrier between most normal people and their engagement with contemporary art. The visual arts community has a responsibilty to reflect on these questionable practices, so we can build together a new, open, updated and more efficient art trade paradigm in line with our time.
By Owen Clayton for Fair Art Trade