"If you can say it... Why paint it?" A review of the key concepts of Contemporary Art

The contemporary art market gives key roles to intermediaries such as opinion leaders, promoters, but also distributors. These are the ones who belong to the network of social relationships within which art is produced and its use determined. Such people are critics, consultants, art collectors, auction house experts, sales persons, journalists, museum professionals, art teachers and professors:

Right at the heart of the art market are the buyers of artworks. Completing the offer and intermediaries in the market scheme, they finally decide on the success of a trend or an artist. The English reference magazine ART REVIEW draws a map depicting the geographical distribution of power within the contemporary art world every year. The French Collector François Pinault was classified being the first most influential art player in the world in 2006 by the above mentioned magazine (in the Power 100 Issue) whereas the first artists appearing in the ranking are Bruce Nauman and Jeff Koons occupying only the 9th and 10th position.
Consultants enable actors in the art world, gallerists in particular, to gain access to information concerning the market. They also are the ones who may give access to the “grey” market where artworks are sold privately by one collector to another without passing through a dealer or an auction house.

In his book "Collecting contemporary", Adam Lindermann argues that museum staffs facilitate the emergence of an artist’s reputation and the evolution of trends: “There is no doubt that the Paul McCarthy (one of the 24 artists represented in the ArtReview classification mentioned above) retrospective organised by Lisa Phillips and Dan Cameron (belonging to the museum staff) a few years ago at the New Museum of contemporary art in new-York confirms that this seminal but long under appreciated artist was going to develop a real commercial market”.

Art critics no longer have the power to make or break the reputation of an artist. As an example, the exhibitions of Damien Hirst or Jeff Koons had bad reviews in the Art press but were still sold out. Nevertheless art critics continue to have a significance on the art world as they give information on hypes and trends.

By classifying, promoting and explaining art to novices or simply by their choice to display one artist rather than another these intermediaries maintain this social network alive and powerful.
In this context, Carole Duncan in Aesthetic of Power highlights that an artwork would only be recognised as ‘high art’ on the international scene if one of its network members treats it as art. Therefore, “In order to become visible in this world, an artist must make work that in some way addresses the highest community or some segment of it”. In other words, the message and its form have to match the expectancies of the intermediaries in terms of communication.

Moreover, Carole Duncan, argue that “The modern world of high art is an international art market centered in NY city and emanating out to rival centers in Paris, London, Milan, Tokyo and the other great centers of capitalism. Like any market, it is organised around the production and the use of commodities, in this case luxury objects produced by small manufacturers”. Underlining this, figures on the art market show that this market is dominated by players from Europe, Hong-Kong and the US being western in its cultural orientation and business practice. This hegemony of western culture in the art market might form an obstacle for members of other cultures to act on the market.

Also, it may be difficult for an artist to escape the hegemonic power that western culture has on the whole art world.

Now that you know your people, there is no reason for your masterpieces, to stay hided forever in the little wood house at the back of the garden !!! ;-))