Are we programmed to buy art merchandise? Photo Paul Prescott; image shutterstock.
What started out as a specialist bookshop with a few collection postcards and the odd poster, has become big business for galleries, and artists.
From pop-up vitrine stores in most regional galleries, providing a vital income stream, to global brands like The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York) and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) with chain outlet stores worldwide, art merchandise today is the norm.
Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's Senior Contributor, after 12 years in the role as National Visual Arts Editor. She has worked for extended periods in America and Southeast Asia, as gallerist, arts administrator and regional contributing editor for a number of magazines, including Hong Kong based Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. She is an Art Tour leader for the AGNSW Members, and lectures regularly on the state of the arts. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW.
Instagram: fairleygina
