The New Art Gift Galleries
Recently, I took a day off to visit art galleries in other towns, in part to see how things were going with the economic downturn. The art world in general is experiencing hard times, with galleries and museums closing or having financial difficulties. In contrast, galleries focused on "art gifts"appear to be doing well. Hopefully, these galleries have found a new market, a new venue for people who never made it in the door of the upscale Fine Art galleries.
Art Gift galleries usually display paintings for sale, generally priced below $200. But they also display a range of other art objects such as sculpture, handbags, and fiber art. According to one gallery owner I spoke with, they pay the rent with the sales of earrings. This made me reflect on the issue of value in art. It also made me think of the multitudes of art students in ateliers and schools, studying long hours to learn the craft of their chosen profession.It seems the slow economy is resulting in a fluid definition of what can be called art.
For example, I found one place offering genuine "hand painted" glass art objects that can be hung in windows. On the back of each was a label that read "Made in China" -- no artist name, just the country of manufacture. In another store, the owner spoke of the difficulties of selling original hand made Zuni Indian Jewelry. According to the owner, a group of entrepreneurs has set up a manufacturing facility in Latin America. They have changed the name of the town to "Zuni", and are manufacturing "Zuni Indian Jewelry" for sales in North America. As much as 2/3 of the Zuni Indian Jewelry sold in the U.S. is now manufactured by non-Zuni people.
Commoditization is always a threat to art. There is always the potential for losing personal contact with the artist. Witness the hand painted art reproductions of the Great Masters now available on the Internet, painted by highly trained but anonymous Chinese painters. Often, we may not be able to tell whether the art object is actually made by hand, or made by a row of hands, or made in a factory.
The new Art Gift galleries have much to offer as an alternative to the shopping mall mass market. But they also have the responsibility to the artists that create their works. Hopefully, these galleries will offer artists a new audience, where art can flourish and continue to appeal to the senses, communicate emotions, and perhaps even offer something about what it means to be human. The essential key is the naming of the artist - allowing us to know who the creator is, so that we are in some sense relating to another human being. That is the only way to know we are purchasing a work of art, and not just a manufactured commodity.
