Art Gallery Types

New Exhibition Proposals

They are spaces in which the objective is to constantly reinvent themselves, experiment with the way of exhibiting without having a large budget and without the commercial pressure of a gallery.

The Juan Gallery, in Madrid, is the first space in Spain exclusively dedicated to a living art. They do not deny object art but they do seek that the work of artists begins and ends with the bodies and the relationships that they establish. 

The Gallery Is Divided Into Four Types Of Activities: 

Training, with an educational program to promote knowledge of living art; Carta Blanca, based on a constant schedule with at least one weekly opening; Barrio, a weekly radio program on Onda Verde (Lavapiés local radio); and Cycles and festivals organized every four to attract a new audience and meet new artists. Half house, in Barcelona,   is a fusion of home and space for artistic exchange and communication. They actively participate in the artistic reality of the city, welcoming projects and inviting the artistic community to feel the space as their own, prioritizing direct work with artists, support for production, and critical development of the programming.

Domestic Spaces

The house as an exhibition space to turn intimate and personal into something public and social is the objective of different spaces that operate from every day, the closest to us. The guest room is a project that started in 2015 and is located in a house in the Lavapiés neighborhood of Madrid. There, everything that happens around contemporary art is of interest and not art itself.

Artist-Managed Spaces

These are the artists’ own workspaces, their studios, and workshops, which are now open to different audiences and with different activities to create synergies, save resources and make the cultural fabric of cities win. Malafama Estudios, for example, is the workspace of eight artists and one of the hottest meeting points in the capital. In this space, experiences are shared between the different cultural agents with the aim of expanding the sense of creation, exhibition, and promotion of the vibrant art scene that develops today from Madrid.

Sharing Spaces

Having a permanent exhibition and production space is almost impossible today. For this reason, and although it is still not very common, initiatives are beginning to emerge in which institutions share their space with galleries or artists so that they can show their work temporarily. This is the case of Casa de Indias, in Puerto de Santa María, a small town on the Cadiz coast. 

Training Centers And Shops

In many cases, one of the options to maintain an open exhibition space is to have a store at affordable prices. In Madrid’s art galleries, La Causa stands out as an art gallery that promotes and encourages emerging national and international artistic creation and is divided into two areas: modular exhibition space and a graphic work store. Also from Swinton Gallery, which was born in 2014 with the aim of showing the talent of national and international artists with a base of influence on urban art and more independent art and which also has a specialized library on the upper floor.

The current model of art galleries has not changed in almost a century and a half. Today, as yesterday, the gallery owner does something as fundamental as promoting and selling the work of his artists, helping them in the creation and production of their works, and influencing their international recognition. But in a world like the current one, so changing and fast, the debate arises with increasing force about whether this model is still the most appropriate. For this reason, new working methods and alternatives are appearing that seek to redefine the role of the gallery in the 21st century.

One of the main problems facing a gallery today is the enormous expenses it has to face: rent, electricity, water, telephone, salaries, assemblies, transportation, warehouses, production or insurance are just some of the annual expenses it generates. In addition, the behavior of the public has changed, and fewer and fewer people are attending the galleries. Why does this happen, if the entrance is free and the one to the museums, for example, is not? Even today, and despite the efforts made by many galleries to open up and approach new audiences, these spaces are still perceived as elitist and closed centers for a public that may be able to buy a work of art but that does not belong to the world of art. 

It also happens that collectors, those who do belong to the art world, have become accustomed to making their purchases at fairs, which is a few days concentrating an abundant supply of gallery proposals. But for medium-sized galleries participating in the most important fairs is not so easy because the prices are tremendously high and the fair model basically consists of attracting attention among hundreds of proposals, which is difficult when you have another gallery next to you that can allow a 100 square meter booth full of super productions by the best-known artists.

Types Of Galleries

There are many types of galleries and it is difficult to make a general classification in which they can be grouped by their activity or location.

Depending On Your Business Model, They Can Be:

• For representing exclusively contemporary artists

• OS (primary market).

• For working with well-known firms and with resale work (secondary market)

• By alternating both markets (primary and secondary).

• For working with emerging artists.

They Can Also Be Classified By The Field In Which They Carry Out Their Work:

Local Galleries: 

They carry out a work to promote emerging artists or artists of medium history. They promote the closest collecting. Its mediation is important because it is the first link where the emerging artist and the collector converge in their beginnings.

National Galleries: 

They are first-line rooms in the country and with an international projection. They work with established artists, important collectors and collaborate closely with museums, foundations, and similar institutions.

International Galleries: 

These are highly prestigious galleries that are consolidated worldwide. With a portfolio of elite collectors and with access to the main museums. Their prestige is usually ahead of the artists they represent. His work is developed both in the living artists market and with first-rate works from the secondary market. His level of business is high, speculative with artists, and aggressive with collectors.

Commercial Galleries: 

Newly created galleries whose assets are emerging artists and with a young clientele.

Galleries For Rent:

That sells decorative and more handmade than artistic work. They usually charge rent for exhibiting and do not carry out any representation or promotion of the artist.

Itinerant Galleries: 

These are those that do not have their own premises and organize exhibitions in specific locations, such as cultural centers, foundations, hotel establishments, etc. Each gallery works in a specific market segment and in which they specialize based on their clientele.