By Nancy Nesvet Okay, so now we acknowledge that the world of art is tied to economics. Only the Venice Biennale and other recent exhibitions after that model survive to showcase the best of new art not for sale or created with economic appreciation in mind, only the other kind. There is no shame in admitting people buy art to hang on their walls while also hoping the work goes up in value; that supports galleries who pay artists, a noble and necessary employment. The art fairs are a great venue for creating an art marketplace for collectors to buy and galleries to sell. But let’s acknowledge the distinction between and value of art fairs for fun and profit and the Biennales, Documentas and other not for sale art venues. That value was recognized until the recent economic debacle of Documenta 14 at Kassel and Athens. Not only did Documenta 14 lose millions of euros, but the loss … [Read more...] about THE BUSINESS OF ART: ART FREE FOR ALL
economics
THE BUSINESS OF ART: DOCUMENTA-ECONOMIC DEBACLE, POLITICAL WIN
By Nancy Nesvet As Globalism and Nationalism dominate current world news and politics, economic disparities of the Global South and northern Europe causes verbal and policy battles across all markets. We hinted in the last Business of Art blog at the consequences for documenta 14, but here provides an update on its future policy decisions. Splitting the fair between Kassel and Athens has been cited for the 5.4-million-euro loss. Documenta’s director, Adam Szymczyk, took the job on the condition that the exhibition be split between Athens and Kassel. Half of Kassel’s 2017 documenta was financed by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the German Federal Foreign Office and the City of Kassel. The other half came from private funds: Volkswagen and Sparkasse Finance Foundation and Kassel’s daily entrance fee. Originally, 10 percent of the budget (2 million euros) was to go to Athens, … [Read more...] about THE BUSINESS OF ART: DOCUMENTA-ECONOMIC DEBACLE, POLITICAL WIN