Making sense of art and design industries

Tuesday September 9. 2019

In the art industry there are several different types markets. Every market in the art industry have their differences. 

A short brief on how the art market operates. The art market is not solely about the income. Some economists say that exchange plays a big role when it comes to acquirement of the art. The markets in art do all have different processes when it comes to the exchange, and the way it works is that in the end it all depends on who that participates and the rules/logic of that certain exchange.

One example that is relevant for this issue is Zoloni`s opinion. Zoloni`s opinion is called the industrial networks approach. The industrial networks approach gives us a look at the different actors, their relationships, and exchange behaviour in each of these four different markets. The four different markets that Zoloni are introducing us to are; “Classical contemporary or Branden art market”, “Avant-grade at market, “Alternative art market”, and “Junk art market”.

I will elaborate on the four different markets to give you and deeper understanding on how the four different markets work.

The classical contemporary or Branded art market are a market who is worked by a historical contemporary artists of the 20^thcentury where the artist har achieved a strong brand. The Branden art market is an international level market who are controlled by older well-resourced secondary market firms. And the market is governed by prevailing market prices. 

The second market is the Avant Garde Art market. the main difference between the bran art market and Avant Garde art market is how the ae being controlled. The Avant Garde art market are being controlled by a lesser number of influential curators, dealers and critics.

So, the third market is the Alternative art market. this market has a similarity to the Avant Garde art market but at a lower, national level. And in this market the critics, gallerists and other leading figures in the art system that define what is included in this specific market.

The fourth market is the junk art market. This market refers to “inferior” art works that is not even considered as legitimate art. and the price range in this market are low due to the volume and perception of commodity product.

The art markets do all have their own level, meaning if u try to explain your perception of the art to someone else, they would most likely not be able to understand your side of view on the matter. This is because people may have many different perceptions of the said art. Art effects people differently. Say one person could say that one art piece belongs to a certain market and another person could say that it doesn’t belong to that maker etc. and that may cause a fair share of disagreements and discussions. Therefore, it is hard pinpoint a conclusion on how special a certain art piece is.