AGAC offers an informational watch. Browse through our selection of recent articles and interesting readings on current events in contemporary art.
Eileen Kinsella | April 6, 2021
Following up on the explosion of interest in NFTs in the media, an article on the skepticism of some galleries on this subject.
Eileen Kinsella | April 5, 2021
This article gives you an overview of what has changed, what will stay the same, and what’s left to innovate in all corners of the art market after 2020.
Éric Clément | March 17, 2021
Organisatrice de la foire Papier, l’Association des galeries d’art contemporain (AGAC) a annoncé mercredi que la 14e édition de l’évènement montréalais d’arts visuels aura lieu, cette année, du 26 au 28 novembre, à la fois au Grand Quai du Port de Montréal, comme en 2019, et de façon virtuelle sur la plateforme papiermontreal.com.
In French
Caroline Montpetit and Jean-Louis Bordeleau | March 17, 2021
Alors que le Québec se déconfine progressivement, le gouvernement veut relancer l’intérêt des Québécois pour les arts d’ici. La ministre de la Culture et des Communications, Nathalie Roy, a annoncé mardi matin une aide de 4,08 millions de dollars pour que le public retrouve le chemin des salles de spectacle, des musées et des librairies.
In French
Eileen Kinsella | March 16, 2021
An article highlighting key data from the Art Market Report 2020 by Arts Economics.
Tim Schneider | March 11, 2021
An insightful analysis by Tim Schneider for Artnet: Will NFTs Revolutionize the Art Market or Repeat Its Greatest Failures?
Jérôme Delgado | January 30, 2021
The MNBAQ wants to bring its Prêt d’oeuvres d’art collection into the present.
In French
Laurent Mercier | January 26, 2021
The managing partner of Maruani Mercier sets out an example of his gallery’s climate action plan.
Naomi Rea | January 12, 2021
As galleries around the globe face an unprecedented squeeze, the French government has hatched a novel plan to support them. It will offer around €2 million ($2.4 million) worth of aid directly to struggling midsize galleries.
André Duchesne, Josée Lapointe & Éric Clément | January 7, 2021
Les tournages se poursuivront, l’accès aux bibliothèques est élargi, mais les arts vivants et les musées continuent d’être confinés.
In French
Joe Dunning | January 5, 2021
As long as the industry limits opportunity in this way, it is limiting its potential for growth.
Kelly Crow | January 4, 2021
Millennial collectors bid on everything from jewelry to Japanese whiskies to game jerseys last year, softening the blow for auction houses as the global art market shrank amid the pandemic.
Caroline Montpetit | December 30, 2020
Le premier centre d’artistes autochtones à Montréal entend resserrer les liens entre les différentes nations.
In French
Louisa Buck | December 23, 2020
One outcome of the havoc wreaked on the art market by Covid-19 is the way that galleries have united to set up schemes in order to pool recourses and work together.
Tori Campbell | December 18, 2020
Get your art fix from the comfort and safety of your own home this winter with some of the best art podcasts hosted by experts, for art lovers and novices alike.
Daniel Birnbaum & Philip Tinari | December 15, 2020
The forces behind the largest-ever institutional show of AR art discuss how the form can fuel a greener, socially distant art world.
Andrew Durbin, Amy Sherlock, Evan Moffitt, Pablo Larios & Terence Trouillot | December 14, 2020
COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter were two of the major events that signalled the changes that may – and in many cases must – come next year.
Eileen Kinsella | December 15, 2020
Emmanuel Perrotin, who runs galleries in Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, Tokyo, and Shanghai, is expanding yet again by opening a new standalone business selling art on the secondary market.
Julia Halperin & Tim Schneider | December 2, 2020
Interviews with those in the trade suggest that women collectors are more interested in creating value than buying trophies.
Catherine Lalonde | November 27, 2020
Au moins 535 emplois ont été abolis dans les musées du Québec depuis le début de la pandémie. Des pertes entraînées entre autres par la fermeture forcée de ces lieux, exigée par la Santé publique.
In French
Jonathan Paquette | November 18, 2020
L’auteur s’adresse au ministre du Patrimoine canadien, Steven Guilbeault, suite à son intervention à l’émission Tout le monde en parle du dimanche 15 novembre.
In French
Tim Schneider | November 18, 2020
Collectors say they are absolutely exhausted with the “onslaught of art” being sold online.
Darla Migan | October 19, 2020
The surge in online viewing rooms is poised to change the art industry’s uneasy relationship to price transparency.
Jean Siag | October 10, 2020
Elles sont considérées comme des commerces, mais on leur interdit d’organiser des rassemblements. Comment les galeries d’art s’adaptent-elles aux nouvelles mesures de confinement du gouvernement ?
In French
Christine Blais | September 29, 2020
Alors que le sociologue de l’art et de l’économie Olav Velthuis suggérait dès 2014 que la foire et Internet étaient deux espaces où le collectionneur possédait davantage de capital économique, on peut se demander pourquoi la fusion entre les deux ne survient qu’aujourd’hui.
In French
Marc Cassivi | September 29, 2020
Comment expliquer que les centres commerciaux restent ouverts, mais que les salles de spectacle, les cinémas, les théâtres et les musées de Montréal et de Québec seront de nouveau fermés dès jeudi ? En octobre, on pourra s’acheter des casseroles, des cigarettes ou des bijoux, on pourra aller chez IKEA, au DIX30 ou à la messe, mais on ne pourra pas aller voir La déesse des mouches à feu au cinéma.
In French
Robin Pogrebin | September 27, 2020
The dealer David Zwirner has hired Ebony L. Haynes, a gallerist who is Black, as the director of a new exhibition program and commercial gallery space in Manhattan, for which she plans to employ an all-Black staff.
Eileen Kinsella | September 24, 2020
Despite suffering a nosedive in revenue, here’s how the biggest auction houses in the world are evolving to survive.
Sarah Cascone | September 23, 2020
Emerging artists, in particular, are having luck selling on Instagram.
Eileen Kinsella | September 9, 2020
A new study from Art Basel and UBS titled “The Impact of COVID-19 on the Gallery Sector” aims to survey the extent of the damage.
Armando Perla | Fall 2020
There seems to be a moment of reckoning on institutional racism in Canada that is taking place across several sectors.
Nick Merriman | August 12, 2020
The chief executive of the Horniman Museum argues that museums need to use their influence to turn visitors into environmental activists.
Naomi Rea | August 11, 2020
Cultural events with more than 5,000 people can go ahead beginning in September.
Jean Siag | July 29, 2020
La carrière de l’artiste visuel montréalais mondialement connu Jon Rafman est mise à mal à la suite d’allégations d’inconduite sexuelle.
In French
Ben Davis | July 8, 2020
In what’s billed as one of the largest arts and culture studies ever done in the US, the new report “Culture and Community in a Time of Crisis” has surveyed some 124,000 people to take a look at their thoughts on the role of culture in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sean O’Neill | June 23, 2020
At Canada’s four largest art museums, the top leadership is all white—and the majority of their boards and senior leadership is too. What does this say about the possibilities for change in a moment when institutions are responding to calls for structural transformation?
Anna Brady | June 23, 2020
Art Basel has temporarily relaxed the application process and reduce down payments for its Hong Kong fair (ABHK) to encourage and enable more galleries to take part in the event scheduled for March 2021.
Leah Collins | June 22, 2020
The week of Blackout Tuesday, a chart compiled by Toronto artist Ibrahim Abusitta began making the rounds on Instagram among locals in the arts community. Labelled « a small sample of Toronto contemporary art galleries, » Abusitta describes it as a nod to the Guerrilla Girls in the caption.
Tim Schneider | May 21, 2020
Since the art world’s widespread physical shutdown triggered a flood of online viewing rooms, much of the industry’s attention has been directed toward typical sales reports and heartening progress on price transparency.
Nate Freeman | May 20, 2020
How would you like to hit up a panel conversation organized by Art Basel in the morning, rush over to a Frieze art fair preview after breakfast, spend the afternoon browsing a dozen gallery shows, and end the day with a video art screening at the Whitney Museum? This isn’t a pre-lockdown fantasy. It’s possible now—all without leaving the couch.
Maude Johnson | May 19, 2020
Alors qu’abondent désormais les initiatives en ligne, quelle place occupe le commissariat dans la présentation virtuelle de l’art contemporain et ses formes élargies, à un moment où la participation est une modalité de plus en plus valorisée au sein de l’exposition ?
In French
Jérôme Delgado | May 4
The outbreak of Covid-19 in Quebec has not yet put a single art gallery out of business. As with all businesses, however, the image of empty premises is a sign that things are not going well. Simon Blais, a gallery owner with 30 years of experience, feels the effects of the crisis even in his electronic exchanges…
In French
Tim Schneider | April
Our columnist assesses global supply chains and data on cultural institutions to consider the revised look of a post-shutdown art market.
Andrew Goldstein | A
Here are eight of the most memorable works from the Dallas Art Fair’s virtual edition.
Andras Szanto | April 14, 2020
The cultural strategy expert Andras Szanto offers a step-by-step look at how museums could help the public regain a sense of normalcy.
Brian Boucher | April 2020
The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report shows that the online shift was already in place – with Covid-19, it now has a new impetus
Julia Halperin | April 6, 2020
Zwirner’s “Studio” platform kicks off with Wolfgang Tillmans, while its “Exceptional Works” secondary-market venue debuts with Josef Albers.
Kate Brown & Eileen Kinsella |
We canvassed insiders for advice about what to do in the months ahead.
March 16, 2020
After canceling its fair, Art Basel Hong Kong will present more than 2,000 works online with an estimated value of $270 million. That’s just the beginning as the art world goes virtual.
Eileen Kinsella |
Zwirner is hosting a dozen smaller New York galleries in one virtual space.
Elizabeth Dee | March
The founder of Independent looks back on earlier crises and proposes ways to build a stronger art market on the other side of this one.
Kate Brown | March
“Artists are not only indispensable, but also vital, especially now,” says the country’s culture minister.
Naomi Rea | March
Vortic uses AR and VR technologies to create customizable gallery spaces.
Vous n’avez pas tout vu | Season 3 (Episode 064)
A petition is currently circulating on the Web asking Radio-Canada to provide more coverage of the visual arts on its various platforms. It deplores the fact that the coverage favours showbizz artists. Why is it so difficult for the visual arts to be seen by the media? A discussion with Nicolas Mavrikakis.
In French
Tim Schneider | March
Among the major lessons is that transparency benefits everyone.
Kate Brown & Eileen Kinsella | March 19, 2020
Small and mid-range galleries are the most vulnerable to economic shifts, but they are also more spry.
Philippe Papineau | January
Une pétition lancée il y a trois semaines et qui cumule maintenant plus de 7500 signatures réclame de Radio-Canada une meilleure représentation des arts visuels sur ses différentes plateformes. La couverture de la chaîne publique, sauf exception, se résume au travail de grands noms issus du monde du divertissement, déplore le texte.
In French
Scott Reyburn | December 2nd, 2019
Immersive experiences define the most popular contemporary exhibitions, but where does this leave the commercial art world?
Joan Verdon | December 1st, 2019
This year is on track be another record-breaker for online spending and mobile shopping. Mike Steib, CEO of Artsy, says those online spenders are reaching for their phones not just to buy clothes or groceries, but to buy works of fine art, some costing six figures or more.
Robert Norton
Entrepreneur Robert Norton outlines how emerging technologies will usher in a new era of artist retained equity.
In a series of articles, the authors of Artsy Editorial compose a report highlighting the similarities and differences between the spending habits, motivations and challenges of online collectors and compares them to those of traditional art buyers.
Professor Olav Velthuis | October 12, 2019
The contemporary art market is on the verge of a deep institutional crisis. So deep, that it is hard to predict what the way out will be and what the art market’s institutional framework will look like in one or two decades from now.
Tim Schneider |
Our columnist connects the dots between old-school thinking about price transparency and old-school thinking about what museums should buy.
Scott Indrisek | August 9, 2019
A storm swept through Detroit on July 20th, but it didn’t stop a boisterous crowd from descending on Reyes | Finn. The gallery, located in the Corktown neighborhood, was opening three new exhibitions, coinciding with the second annual Detroit Art Week.
Alexander Forbes | July 31, 2019
In 1897, standing on the deck of his yacht the Corsair, financier J.P. Morgan allegedly responded to a guest inquiring about the boat’s cost: “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.” This attitude has since become seared into the American subconscious through all manner of media. And it’s one the art industry tends to embrace.