Gallery Paradigm Changing?

The Financial Times is running an article on the changes happening within art galleries.  It seems that the top end, large international galleries are successful  by the middle market galleries need to find a way to re-invent themselves with a new business model.

The Financial Times reports

Are we seeing the start of a radical overhaul of the whole gallery system? Today dealers are making the most of their turnover at art fairs, and some, particularly in the middle market, are closing their permanent spaces and moving to new models. In Paris the respected dealer Jérôme de Noirmont has closed, explaining in a letter to his clients: “The future appears to be in certain specialised niches for simple-structure galleries, and in the branding of mega-galleries, just as powerful as they are big, with several international locations.” He says that, to face the competition, he would need larger premises, more employees and to take on more artists, something he does not want to do. Now de Noirmont is setting up a new venture: “Something like an agency, which would help in production, working with other galleries and institutions.”

Last year, another Parisian, Aline Vidal, decided to close her gallery and work purely on a “nomadic” basis in different locations with her artists. “I wanted to do fewer fairs, to find another model,” she says. “I want to get out of the superficial ‘show-business’ aspect of the market today.” This week she opened a show in a temporary space by the artist ACM, who makes sculptures from found items, which will continue for a month; shows in other places will follow. “I’m giving myself a year to assess,” she says.

Another example of the “nomadic” gallery is the Moving Museum, a not-for-profit art space – albeit one that sells art to finance itself – which had its first outing in a temporary space during Art Dubai last month.

Meanwhile in New York, Nicole Klagsbrun is closing her gallery – founded in 1984 – this summer. She is keeping a small office space but will continue to organise shows in the US and Europe. She told The Art Newspaper: “I don’t know how sustainable the [current global] gallery model is. If you don’t want to compromise, it’s very difficult – it’s like the Barnes & Noble effect. There are no small bookshops.”

Source: The Financial Times