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Salon Art + Design 2020
“COLLECTORS WILL BE LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE” market will continue to be relevant as collectors and buyers go for one-off, limited works, taking a dimmer view of the mass-produced and the resulting negative effect on the environment.” Dealers also point to the power and potential of digital communication to expand the audience for what they are doing and to reach new clients everywhere. “I’ve had to imagine another way of working through strong digital communication,” says Aline Chastel from Galerie Chastel Maréchal in Paris. “It is very important to stay in touch with each of my collectors but also to spread the gallery’s taste with our newsletter, Instagram, or Pinterest.” Lewis Wexler completely agrees. “Wexler Gallery has used social media to market our artists and designers. We highlight one particular artist or designer per week and look at their work in depth. We have been using video as a means to get to know the maker – it’s a great narrative tool to tell a story and that’s what people want right now. Of course, we also promote work on Instagram, Facebook, and various selling platforms.” The need to see or touch a design object before making a final purchase, no matter the price, may well be a quaint thing of the past – certainly, the new digital economy is here to stay, as dealers and auction houses have found ways to make sure that their clients can meaningfully experience items online. And while the event-driven, media-hyped art and design world will likely start up all over again when the world economy reopens for business, it will not be the same: there is a new wariness, it seems, of the huge costs associated with shipping, travel, and lavish dinners. People are realizing that the social side is less important. Instead, it’s about returning to the idea of art and design being about who we are; of building on real narratives and stories; of returning to the old fashioned notion of artists producing works not just for consumption, but to stand the test of time.
Benjamin Genocchio is an art critic
