Philosophic Money. The Contemporary Art System as a Market and Cultural Agent

Within the contemporary art system complex, constantly-changing cultural features coexist with stratified acts of dealing. The art market operates as a collective mediation structure, developing a multiple agency: financial and economic, educational, political and social. In this article, we offer t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Stefano Baia Curioni, Marta Equi Pierazzini, Laura Forti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-11-01
Series:Arts
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/9/4/110
Description
Summary:Within the contemporary art system complex, constantly-changing cultural features coexist with stratified acts of dealing. The art market operates as a collective mediation structure, developing a multiple agency: financial and economic, educational, political and social. In this article, we offer the result of an empirical test dedicated to the identification of unseen changes in the informal organizational pattern of the market. Observing the behavior of selected samples, we focused, firstly, on the networks of artists and commercial galleries at the Art Basel fair; and, secondly, on the group and solo shows organized by a relevant sample of international contemporary art museums and exhibitions spaces. These analyses offer an insight into the changes that occurred from 2005 to 2013, encompassing the quantitative growth of the art system infrastructure and the effects of the crisis of 2008.
ISSN:2076-0752