While taking the underground I think about the artworld.

I took the metro at 12:14.
For some reason, the air in the underground train is very stuffy, as there is almost no exchange of air. I can’t read any of the masked faces, and they all have their eyes on their phones and books, trying not to make eye contact with anyone.
Munich is currently in a so-called soft lockdown and far more filled with a sense of doom and gloom than during the first lockdown last spring.
Is it just me, or is there something strange and cynical in the air?
Or maybe it’s just my own deteriorating feelings that make reality seem that way. Even the warm breath in my mask seems to dampen my energy.

I exhaled heavily and then inhaled again as deeply as I could, hoping that my gloomy mood would change. Then suddenly a single thought popped into my head.

“If there were no gallery owners or art dealers in this world, what would the art world be like today? Without gallerists and art dealers, the art world would be quieter and more secluded, for better or worse.

The current art market, which has a worldwide turnover of 64.1 billion US dollars, has grown by 60% in the last ten years.
I don’t want to imply that it is only the power of gallery owners and art dealers that has created this market, but I think that the trinity of them and the so-called curators have worked together to find a special value in artworks and combine it with money to create a huge art market in this world. There is no doubt about that.

I am probably not the only one who finds it strange that people get so excited about a work of art that is probably the furthest thing from the real necessities of life, and spend a lot of money on it, if you think about it honestly.
At the same time, I welcome the recognition of the artistic talent of the creators, their technical skills, their innovative ideas and concepts, and the growing number of people who see a special value in it and want to own art.

I am not a gallery owner in the glamorous, glittering spotlight of a mega gallery, nor am I an art dealer who can move expensive artworks with a single phone call.
But after ten years in the business of selling contemporary art from Japan, exhibiting the work of many male and female Japanese artists and helping my clients select their work with integrity, I think I’ve got it.

When the reality is that such a big art market opens its arms and invites so many people, I think: “Okay! Let’s take it one step further, shall we?”

We gallery owners should talk more closely and systematically with our artists.
Sometimes we clash, sometimes we get angry with each other, but if we look in the same direction, we can inspire each other and strengthen our trust.

There are two secrets to penetrating the heart of a huge, wide-open art market. The first is that artists and their galleries have to give their best to each other’s special area of expertise and work hard and challenge each other. The second is that artists and gallery owners put their heads together, clearly define their ideas, complement their strengths to create original and innovative works. Artists as lone warriors don’t really get very far, even with social media.

What if there were no gallery owners or art dealers in this world?
Not only would we not have had the huge art market we have today, but art would not have spread to the general public. Our daily lives would have been much less colourful.

I get off the underground, which is filled with a cloudy atmosphere, and walk down the street to the gallery.
A cold breeze stings my cheek: “Stand up straight and show some energy! I’m getting ready for another day Micheko Gallery.