Every week, Artnet News brings you
. The column decodes important stories from the previous week and offers unparalleled insight into the inner workings of the art industry in the process.
In the final Monday edition of this column, which is moving permanently to Wednesdays (yes, really) starting next week, let’s consider how a cure can divide markets as surely as a disease…
INJECTING APPEAL
As vaccination campaigns ramp up around the United States, more and more businesses are trying to do well by doing good in a whole new way: by offering special perks to consumers who can prove they’ve been inoculated against everyone’s least favorite spike protein. But while a broadening range of national corporations and local entrepreneurs are joining in the effort, so far there seems to be little interest from inside the art industry another subtle reminder that connecting with a wide audience rarely rates as a priority in the realm of high culture.
This week, trying to gauge the distance to the finish line…
MEET ME AT THE CROSSROADS
Last week, a head-on collision between good and bad news led close watchers of the pandemic to investigate whether the US (and perhaps the wider world) has reached the most pivotal intersection in the saga to date… and if so, whether we’re poised to make the right or wrong turn as we cross the border from winter to spring.
But when it comes to projecting the art industry’s timeline for full re-emergence from lockdown, we would be wise to note what several health experts are stressing in unison: the way various constituencies choose to
The Gray Market: Why ‘Global Weirding’ Makes Art Museums Needier Than Ever for Unglamorous Donations (and Other Insights)
Our columnist connects a devastating winter storm in Texas, climate change, and a longstanding drought within cultural philanthropy.
February 22, 2021
Icicles hanging off the State Highway 195 sign in Killeen, Texas after the historic winter storm of February 2021. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Every Monday morning, Artnet News brings you The Gray Market. The column decodes important stories from the previous week and offers unparalleled insight into the inner workings of the art industry in the process.
This week, a story to chill the blood of any art aficionado…
This week, throwing a green filter onto the old maxim that sharing is caring…
EARTH GANG
Last week, a flurry of moves in business and US policy hoisted climate justice into the front row of public consciousness and corporate strategy. In the art market, a key piece of commentary also reinforced the larger lesson that transparency has become one of the most powerful, least utilized tools for greening any trade, including our own. But even with a clear model in place for how everyone can get loud and proud about climate action fast, the question becomes whether the art economy will recognize the urgency and opportunity of the moment.