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.
A lot has changed since 2007. To exit through the gift shop – to adopt the title of street artist Banksy’s film from 2010 – has become standard modus operandi. And in March this year, Elliot Safra wrote for Artnet that the ever expanding market for art merchandise is ‘only just beginning’, in what may be considered a next wave boom with shop takeovers and brand collaborations driving ‘merch’ as a winning option.
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
