Art overstepping legal boundaries

Two breaking stories flag a reality check for the visual arts sector.

Two high profile legal cases are rocking the Australian visual art scene and once again bring to light deeper structural imbalances within the sector.

In the past, the artist and gallerist relationship has often been built on trust and hand-shake agreements. It leaves both parties unprotected by legal contracts, meaning deals can easily get out of hand, often to the detriment of the artist.

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Celina Lei is an arts writer and editor at ArtsHub. She acquired her M.A in Art, Law and Business in New York with a B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne.