Friday, December 30, 2005

How long will NYC continue to be the center of the art world?

How big does New York loom on America's creative landscape? A new report takes some measures: "No other place in the U.S. even comes close to matching the city’s creative assets. In fact, 8.3 percent of all creative sector workers in the U.S. are based in New York. The city is home to over a third of all the country’s actors and roughly 27 percent of the nation’s fashion designers,12 percent of film editors,10 percent of set designers, 9 percent of graphic designers, 8 percent of architects and 7 percent of fine artists." Center for an Urban Future 12/05

To Americans, NYC is the the holy grail of the art world. I admit that Londoners and Parisians may contest that belief. But my point is not to argue over USA vs European art influences. My question is this - With the advent of the information age, will the major metropolis be able to maintain its control over the art market? Even now with tens of thousands of galleries across the United States, NYC is still the goal of contemporary artists. Even I relocated to Santa Fe for the purpose of "cracking" the second largest art market in the country. NYC often just seems out of reach. But is that elitism exactly what will keep the city on its pedestal?- DN

1 comment:

Raymond Betancourt said...

Neither New York,Paris or London are the art captial of the world in former sense of the word. That is to say, a geographic location that one must venture to in order to see the newest trends in art. Electronic mass communication,the internet in particular has changed that.
However, for artists whose ambitions tend towards the highest economic levels, these cities still play a major role. I'm not suggesting an artist can't make a good living else where.They can and do, but I remember reading about an artist here in NYC whose paintings were selling for 80,000 dollars apiece and that was about 10 years ago.
I just can't imagine a gallery reaching those prices outside of a major city.