THE ARTIST POSITIONING DILEMMA: ART MARKET OR CULTURE?
Updated: Sep 7
It took me a few years to understand the difference between the art market and culture. A few more to understand how these two worlds could coexist within an artist’s career and within my own.
These few lines finally put into words and rationalize nine years of reflection and experience on the subject. Reading them earlier would have saved me time. I hope they do the same for you.
THE CODES OF THE ART MARKET
My understanding of the art market came in successive layers. At first, like many people, I approached it with instincts inherited from the cultural sector: visibility, storytelling, reaching wider audiences, the desire for greater circulation. Over time, I realized that the art market does not fundamentally oppose popularity. Instead, it operates through a constant tension between exposure and control. Today, the more popular an artist becomes, the more valuable they can become on the art market, provided that popularity is carefully managed. Scarcity has not disappeared; it has simply shifted. It no longer necessarily concerns the artist’s visibility, but rather the availability of their work, the formats offered, the sales channels used and the conditions of access.
Everything can be seen. Not everything can be bought. Prestige, meanwhile, is created through this careful orchestration. Broad public recognition only becomes valuable when it is relayed, validated and structured by the actors of the art market: galleries, fairs, institutions, influential collectors, and so on. Visibility then becomes leverage rather than a threat. It generates attention and creates demand, but it is the framework of the art market that transforms that demand into lasting value. The contemporary art market no longer rejects mass culture; it strategically exploits it, nothing particularly new when you think of Andy Warhol. Visibility becomes raw material, while scarcity, control over available works and careful selection of distribution channels continue to protect an artist’s credibility and prestige.
Value emerges precisely from this unstable balance between maximum exposure and restricted access.
THE POWER OF CULTURE
Sylvie Castioni’s Marianne(s) project transformed the way I saw the market and marked my transition from thinking primarily about the art market to thinking about culture. In the art market, you think in terms of collectors, scarcity, price levels and visibility within an extremely codified ecosystem.
The central question is:
Who is going to buy?
In culture, the question becomes:
Who is going to be moved?
With Marianne(s), I watched entirely different doors open: institutions, local authorities, public spaces, civic programmes, companies, media outlets that rarely cover contemporary art… An entire field of opportunities emerged that did not depend on the market, but on impact. That is when I understood the importance of placing art where people do not expect to find it: in spaces where it is not filtered through the codes of the art market, where it can encounter audiences who would never walk through the doors of a gallery, and where it can exist for reasons other than its monetary value.
The art market selects. Culture circulates.
And today, my work is far more powerful on this second terrain. This new side of artistic production also introduced me to a whole range of additional revenue streams for artists: documentaries, talks, residencies, merchandising, brand collaborations, public-space installations… All of these formats can expand both an artist’s visibility and their economic ecosystem.
THE BANKABLE ARTIST PLAYS BOTH SIDES
After testing and exploring both markets, one conviction has become clear to me:
In 2026, a bankable artist no longer chooses between the art market and culture. They operate in both simultaneously. These two ecosystems follow fundamentally different rules (in terms of pricing, distribution, storytelling and desire) but the goal is not to choose one side. The challenge is to develop distinct, coherent projects tailored to each ecosystem without confusing their respective codes.
Perrotin does this extremely well. On one side, the gallery clearly addresses the art market: rare works, high prices, informed collectors. It builds prestige, desirability and scarcity. On the other, its shop offers accessible cultural products (editions, objects, books...) designed for a broader audience. This is not a contradiction. It is a strategy.
The prestige generated by the gallery fuels the wider public’s desire to buy, while cultural circulation increases the artists’ visibility without diluting their value on the art market.
MY WEEKLY ADVICE
Create works specifically for the art market, aimed at collectors, positioned at higher price points and structured around scarcity and legitimacy.
At the same time, develop an accessible cultural offer: products and formats designed to circulate widely and act as an entry point into your artistic universe.
Both channels are essential today. But be careful: you do not sell in the same way, tell the same story or speak to the same audiences. The key lies in understanding the codes of each market and learning how to articulate them intelligently.
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My name is Annelise Stern.
I am an artist agent, curator, author and speaker specialising in the contemporary art market and impact-driven projects, particularly those involving new technologies.
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