The booming global market of contemporary art

The present economic and financial crises do not seem to particularly influence the global art market of contemporary art. In an attempt to understand this apparent opposition, I adopt a macro perspective, combining my own research ventures in Dakar and Vienna with general art market studies. I argu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Focaal 2014-06, Vol.2014 (69), p.84-96
Main Author: Fillitz, Thomas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
21st century
Anthropology
Art galleries & museums
Art market
Art markets
Artists
Austria
Capitalism
Comaroff, Jean
Comaroff, John L
Commodification
Contemporary art
Cultural anthropology
Cultural values
Dakar
Economic crisis
Ethnography
Financial crisis
Gambling
Geopolitics
Globalization
Lifestyle
Senegal
Transnationalism
Vienna
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Summary:The present economic and financial crises do not seem to particularly influence the global art market of contemporary art. In an attempt to understand this apparent opposition, I adopt a macro perspective, combining my own research ventures in Dakar and Vienna with general art market studies. I argue that this market is a special representation of millennial capitalism (Comaroff and Comaroff 2001). The global art market puts in place an organization of diversity that allows a high flexibility in including specific centers and marginalizing others, as well as a special focus on a globally acting group of “ultra high net worth” individuals. Striking features are the concentration of capital flows to a few major centers, the constitution of complex, transnational networks, the dominant logics for each market field (gambling, glamour, moral economy), and the diversification of the commodity character of the work of art.
ISSN:0920-1297
1558-5263
DOI:10.3167/fcl.2014.690106