The commercial gallery landscape is at a crossroads in 2024, diverging from the optimistic trends witnessed in 2022. While the art market thrived and real estate conditions favored expansion in the previous year, the onset of 2024 paints a different picture.
Growing apprehensions about soaring rental prices, particularly in art capitals like New York and London, and broader commercial real estate market uncertainties have elevated the risks associated with investments in new or enlarged physical spaces. This shift is notably impactful for smaller and mid-size galleries, grappling with challenges stemming from COVID-induced lockdowns, economic fluctuations, and the departure of key artists.
Gallery hotspots, such as downtown New York, witnessed a wave of closures in the latter half of 2022. Despite this, some galleries defied the trend by opening new outposts or planning expansions. Examples are the forthcoming Anat Egbi location in New York and the October opening of Pilar Corrias's new gallery in London.
The narrative of 2023 is poised to be remembered as the year when a new post-COVID normal emerged, with the art world fully re-embracing the physical realm while maintaining a robust digital presence. Reports from 2023, such as Artsy's Art Collector Insights and the Art Industry Trends report, underscored the continued significance of online engagement. Notably, 80% of respondents purchased art online in the past year, indicating a growing digital art market. Additionally, 51% of galleries reported that their online collectors were predominantly new to their business.
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As galleries navigate the evolving landscape in 2024, the challenge lies in effectively bridging digital and physical strategies. Galleries will have to review their strategy and adjust to the shifting dynamics of the art market as a result of the interaction between these two domains. How galleries blend the virtual and the real in the upcoming year will be interesting to watch.
The Evolution of Asia's Art Fair Landscape: A Year of Consolidation and Innovation
2023 was a year of adjustment if 2022 was the year that most art fairs reopened to collectors eager for experiences following the pandemic. Contrary to predictions that the future of art fairs was in peril post-COVID, UBS and Art Basel's The Art Market 2023 report anticipates 377 fairs in 2024, slightly fewer than the pre-pandemic high of 408 in 2019.
For significant staples of the fair calendar, 2024 appears to be a business continuation as usual. However, this year is poised to be decisive for emerging art fairs, particularly in Asia, where substantial changes have unfolded rapidly.
In January, Art SG aims to build on the momentum around the Singaporean art market during its second edition. February will witness India Art Fair's largest edition yet in Delhi, showcasing the city's rapidly developing local art scene. July brings the second edition of Tokyo Gendai in Japan, aiming to attract more international attention. November sees the fourth edition of Art Collaboration Kyoto, capitalizing on the success of its buzzy sophomore edition.
The South Korean art scene is particularly vibrant, with Art Busan expanding and launching the design-led fair, Define: Seoul, in November. Frieze Seoul's third edition will be closely watched, and a new experimental art fair, ART OnO, by Korean collector JaeMyung Noh, is set to launch in Seoul in April.
The Asian market receives further bolstering as art fair stalwarts return to their pre-pandemic rhythm. ART021 and West Bund Art & Design resumed at full scale in Shanghai in November. This March, Art Basel Hong Kong will feature 242 galleries- a 37% increase from 2023 and a mirrored version of its 2019 edition. 2024 looks to be a significant year for the continent.
In conclusion, the year ahead holds transformative potential for the global gallery landscape and Asia's art fair circuit. As galleries grapple with the challenges of balancing physical and digital strategies and Asia continues to innovate and consolidate its art fairs, the art world is poised for a dynamic evolution in 2024.
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