Buckle up, folks, because today's episode of Not Real Art is a real eye-opener! Our beloved host Sourdough is back, and he’s dishing out some spicy takes on why the art market appears to be hitting a rough patch. With a blend of playful humor and serious analysis, he dives into the current state of galleries closing their doors and sales figures that are making everyone a bit jittery. What’s the deal? Sourdough proposes that we’re witnessing a fundamental shift as the baton is passed from the boomer generation to the millennials. This isn’t just a passing trend; it’s a cultural shift that’s reshaping the very fabric of the art world.

As he navigates through the conversation, Sourdough highlights that millennials are not just inheriting a market built on the boomer’s dreams; they’re actively rejecting it in favor of their own creative expressions. They’re proving that you don’t need to drop stacks of cash on a piece of art to appreciate it or to have a meaningful connection with it. This generation is all about supporting local artists and finding joy in affordable pieces that resonate with their personal tastes. It’s a refreshing perspective that challenges the traditional notions of art as an elitist pursuit reserved for the wealthy.

Sourdough doesn’t shy away from calling out the stagnation in the art market—he points out that the same old models are no longer serving the majority of artists or buyers. With a lack of innovation and a failure to engage younger audiences, the art world risks becoming obsolete. He urges a reevaluation of how we connect artists with buyers, especially at the entry level, where most people are still dipping their toes into the world of art. With humor and heart, this episode invites listeners to rethink their relationship with art and to embrace a future that is more inclusive, innovative, and vibrant. So grab your headphones and get ready to rethink everything you knew about the art market!

Takeaways:

• The Not Real Art podcast is all about celebrating creative culture and fresh ideas, aimed at inspiring listeners to appreciate art beyond the traditional boundaries.
• We're tackling the big question of why the art market is crashing, diving into how economic cycles and political uncertainty are reshaping the landscape.
• Millennials are shaking things up by rejecting the expensive art market of their boomer predecessors, opting for art that resonates with them personally rather than just what’s deemed valuable.
• The podcast highlights a seismic demographic shift as millennials and younger generations become the new driving force in the art world, leaving behind the old models.
• In a world where boomers are aging out, the art market faces a fundamental transformation because millennials and Gen Z aren’t buying into the old ways of doing things.
• We discuss the lack of innovation in the art market over the past decades, emphasizing the importance of attracting new buyers and fresh ideas to keep the industry alive.

Links referenced in this episode:

• notrelart.com
• arterial.org

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Arterial
• Crewest Studio
• Not Real Art
• Parlor Social
• Captivate

The Not Real Art podcast is intended for creative audiences only.

The Not Real Art podcast celebrates creativity and creative culture worldwide.

It contains material that is fresh, fun and inspiring and is not suitable for boring old art snobs.

Now let's get started and enjoy the show.

Greetings and salutations, my creative brothers and sisters.

Welcome to Not Real Art, the podcast where we talk to the world's most creative people.

I am your host.

Faithful, trusty, loyal, tireless, relentless host.

Sourdough coming at you from Crew west studio in Los Angeles.

How are you people?

Thanks for tuning in.

We do this for you.

It's all about you.

We love you guys, so thanks for your loyalty.

It is the last week of the month, which means that I have an auditorial for you.

Yes, an auditorial.

The time I get on my soapbox and talk about something that's on my mind.

And today I'm going to talk about why the art market is crashing.

So much stress and drama and the art market these days.

Why are sales down?

What's happening?

Why are galleries closing?

Well, I have a theory and we'll talk about that today.

But before I get into it, I want to of course thank our fiscal sponsor.

Arturial Arturo is a non profit, a storytelling platform meant to amplify the arts.

And their support of our programming allows us to keep things free.

Free of advertising, free of paywalls, free to enjoy, free for all, which is what we're about.

And so you can support our work through arterial and through not relart with a tax deductible donation by either going to notrelart.com or going to arturial.org and supporting our work there.

Thank you so much for that.

All right, today, today we have an auditorial and I'm going to get on my soapbox and talk about my theory as to why the art market is crashing.

Is changing.

Certainly there's a lot of hand wringing going on in the art market.

The high end of the art market.

Oh my goodness.

Why are sales down?

Why are galleries closing?

People are just opting out.

Now we've had a series of prominent gallerists closing, getting out of the game, saying that the system is unsustainable, that it's too expensive.

The fair.

Art fairs are crazy expensive and people are burnout and there's so much going on at the high end of the market and sales are, are suffering and, and it's fascinating.

Just listen to various experts and arts journalists talk about what's going on and people are talking a lot about the symptoms of what's happening.

But I don't hear a lot of explanation as to why it's all happening, why sales are down, why people are walking away.

Historically, I think it's been a cyclical thing in many ways.

It's sort of the art market follows the economy.

And if the market is optimistic, if the bulls are running and the economy's good, people feel optimistic about the future.

So they're comfortable spending millions of dollars on art because they feel like they'll be able to flip it in the future for more money.

And so they can take greater risk because they're optimistic about the future.

And then of course, people get bearish and people get more conservative when the markets turn down.

And so for the last, you know, 40, 50 years, we've had this kind of cyclical approach, bulls and bears kind of going round and round.

And simply put, the art market's kind of been a reflection of that.

But the, the kind of the conventional wisdom or the fear or the consensus I'm hearing is that people feel like this is, this is different now, politics are playing into it.

Politics are very different these days, maybe than they've been in quite a long, long time.

And so that's part of it.

It's not just an economic issue necessarily, it's a political issue.

I feel like people are feeling very uncertain about the future.

And, you know, certainly that's playing into it.

And so we're sort of at this new juncture, both economically and politically, and the high end of the market, the, you know, millionaires and billionaires are feeling like they're a little uncertain about the future.

They're probably going to spend less money on art, and that's certainly part of it.

However, I have a few theories here as to what's going on, and I'm not hearing anybody talk about it.

So I thought I would mention it because I think part of what's happening here is we have a world in transition and we have a country in transition.

Well, certainly politically and economically, but why?

What, what's going on?

Well, I think we're in a transition from a boomer led country to a millennial led country.

And boomers, baby boomers, Post World War II, you know, essentially for the last, you know, 80 years plus, they have driven the conversation, they've driven the economy, they've driven the world.

They've created a world built on their values and principles and goals and ambitions and dreams and aspirations, and, and the art market has been a reflection of that.

The boomers have largely created the art market as we know it.

And boomers are getting older and passing on.

They're.

They're getting up in years.

And with any kind of industry, with any market, with any, for any brand, if your core consumer is aging out, so to speak, you have to bring new customers in to make up for those that you're losing.

And I think what's happening is that millennials, on a certain level, are rejecting the world that the boomers have created for better and worse.

And boomers have done a horrible job, I think, of bringing millennials into the fold, so to speak.

Boomers are, I think, afraid to give, give up power, which is why we have politicians that refuse to retire, or we have politicians that are, you know, very up in arms about the younger generation coming in.

And so we have a seismic shift happening.

We have a fundamental societal, cultural, demographic shift happening.

And the values and the principles, I think, that animate millennials are different than those that animated boomers.

And millennials outnumber Boomers.

And millennials are not just the future, they're the present.

And the boomers have had their day, and they're getting older and aging on and aging out and moving on and passing on.

And so if millennials aren't buying into this art market that the boomers have created, well, the art market's going to fail.

It's just going to falter now.

It might not go away completely, but it's going to shrink.

And, you know, I heard a statistic the other day that from a full philanthropic perspective, you know, the largest transfer of wealth is about to happen from boomers down to their kids, about $74 trillion of wealth or being transferred from boomers down to their children.

And in philanthropic circles, fundraisers and development, people are professionals, are concerned because there's real concern that, that the children of boomers are not going to be as generous as the boomers were.

And so where, you know, is fundraising going to go?

What's going to happen to philanthropy if you have $74 trillion being handed down?

And those people receiving that money aren't going to be donating necessarily aren't going to be as charitable or, or as generous as their parents or grandparents?

And so, so there's a real concern.

Now, look, millennials have not done as well as their parents or grandparents.

Young people, Gen Z, Gen Alpha can't afford homes these days, largely, they're strapped with large college debt.

They can't afford homes.

So, you know, what makes us think that they're going to be able to afford expensive art they're not.

Now, that doesn't mean that they don't love art or love artists, because I would, I believe we're in a creative renaissance.

I don't think art or have been more popular certainly in my lifetime than they are right now.

And we're, I really believe we're enjoying a creative renaissance.

But millennials have said, you know, I don't have to spend a million dollars on art.

I can spend a hundred dollars, I can spend a thousand dollars, I can spend $500 on art that I love from a local artist, from emerging artists, from an artist that I love.

And that art is, I'm going to put that in my home.

It's going to give me joy and delight and I don't have to listen to what the so called experts say or the so called art consultants say or the gallerists say.

They, you know, millennials, I think largely TR and intuitions and instincts and they buy what they love and they, you know, decorate their apartments and homes with it, whether they own it or not.

And they're probably renting or leasing or whatever.

But millennials have essentially said, no, we, A, we don't have to spend a lot of money on art.

We love it.

B, we don't have the money to spend, you know, anyway.

And you know, millennials largely grew up in a time of terrorism, war, recession, debt, climate change, natural disasters.

And so they're going to be conservative, they're going to be risk averse.

Boomers grew up a time of prosperity and opportunity and they were very optimistic and, you know, sort of acted that optimism out in many, many ways.

And the art market sort of was a reflection of that.

And I think, you know, because millennials aren't buying into this model, the art market's going to shrink.

And because millennials don't have the money to buy into the model that the boomers have created, you know, it's going to shrink.

I think that's a huge part of it.

It's a huge part of it.

And another critical aspect of this is that there's been absolutely virtually no innovation in the art world and the art market over the last 50, 60 years.

We created one business model essentially to serve the stakeholders over the last several decades.

And we created an art market and a business model that doesn't serve 99.9% of artists.

It serves a very curated, cherry picked kind of game where the wealthy and powerful art gallerists and dealers are able to select those artists from Yale with their MFA and can kind of shepherd and guide those artists on to, to fame and fortune and, you know, museum shows, etc.

Etc.

And, but that was one model, and now that model has worked, you know, for them, for the stakeholders that created it.

It didn't really work.

It doesn't really work for 99.9% of artists.

But essentially, from a business model perspective, there's been no innovation in the art market.

It's been one business model, predominant business model.

And so, you know, when you don't innovate and you don't create new business models, your industry is going to shrink and it's, it's gonna, or it's at least gonna sort of be static and not grow very much.

And of course, when, you know you've got the billionaire class coming online, they've got a lot of money to throw around.

Okay, sure, you can maybe grow that way because there's just more money in, in the, in the, you know, at play.

But that doesn't necessarily mean there's more buyers, right?

Because certainly there's only, there's more and more billionaires every year.

But, you know, there's still only a very few of those in the world.

And when they have all the money, it's not going to trickle down.

And so that's not going to go into the art market.

Right?

So, so, you know, what you have here is you have a seismic transition happening demographically from boomers to millennials.

It's a millennial world now, and you have virtually zero innovation in the art market over the years.

And so there's not new business models now.

That's changing.

I think millennials are changing, that they're innovating in all kinds of interesting ways in terms of alternative spaces and in different ways of showing and experiencing art and selling art.

So there is some innovation starting to happen now, but that's because the young youngbloods are coming in and you know, and saying, you know, enough's enough.

We're rejecting this world that the bo going to create our own.

And so, you know, if the top end of the market is like, waiting for the market to bounce back and, you know, reach new high as the economy gets better, politics get better, so on and so forth, I'm not so sure that's going to happen this time around, you know, because, you know, if boomers are aging out and dying off, you know, what do you got left?

You got Gen X, you got millennials, you got Gen Z, Gen Alpha.

And these folks are just not interested in the art world that we've created.

And they don't have the money to play that game, so they're going to invent their own game.

And that's what they're doing.

They're doing it all kinds of ways.

And whether it's Digital Art or NFTs, for example, or any number of experiences that pop up, museums, U haul galleries, you know, alternative spaces, any number of things.

A lot of fresh ideas and innovation coming online thanks to millennials and Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

But with boomers aging out and going away, the art market will be forever changed.

And I'm not hearing anybody talk about it in these terms.

And I think that, you know, the elephant in the room is, is just this, that nobody, of course, nobody wants to talk about their mortality.

Nobody wants to talk about they're getting older or dying off, but that's exactly what's happening.

And, and we haven't brought enough people into the system and they don't have the economic power anyway to come into the, to the model the way boomers did.

And so they're going to reinvent it.

And it's the same thing with politics.

I mean, we have, you know, boomers wanting to hold on to power, but of course, can only hold on for so long.

Eventually new blood is going to come in.

And so, you know, we see our politics changing, we see our society changing, we see our economy changing.

And, and by the way, this is, you know, largely a global phenomena too, because so much of the world is getting older.

And so we're just seeing this, the seismic tectonic demographic shift and, you know, that's going to impact values and what people want in the world and what they, what they want from art and artists.

And, and so the art market's, you know, being challenged and being changed fundamentally.

And so I think that this is, this is one of the reasons why the high end of the art market is shrinking, is sales are down and people are sort of wringing their hands and freaking out a little bit about why, why, why what's happening and, and burnout is real, and people are sensing it, whether they, they sort of think of it in these terms or not, but they're, they're just saying, you know, I've been on this hamster on this wheel for a long time.

I'm tired, I'm done.

And so they're getting out of the game.

But the art world hasn't really done a great job of, of trying to, you know, innovate and stay fresh and new and create new models and new services or products that, that serve Artists and help connect artists and buyers.

And at a, at an entry level, you know, that's, that's the other thing.

I mean, part of, part of the, you know, the way you grow the market, you know, is by also bringing new buyers into the market at the entry level.

Because most people, you know, most art out there available for sale is 10,000 and lower, certainly if you buy directly from artists.

And so, you know, young buyers, new buyers, you know, they're not going to be able to afford much.

We need to bring them in, we need to bring them into the market at the lower end because the, the home decor wall art sector is a $75 billion sector, you know, and if you could get 1 to 5% of, of, of those people to trade up into buying original art, I mean, you're going to see an influx of almost a billion dollars into the art market and that would be, that would be incredible.

But, you know, the, our world, as we know, has not really cared about the entry level of the market.

So they've been happy to let folks buy mass produced home decor and mass produced printed artworks at the likes of Home Goods or Target or I don't know what name your store, but you get my point.

So lack of innovation, lack of bringing in new, new buyers into the market, struggling economy, a struggling job market, all of these things play into the health of a marketplace and the sustainability of a marketplace.

And our world has just done a really bad job of, of building a future for itself.

And now that its core customers, I.e.

boomers, are aging out and dying off and millennials can't fill those shoes economically, you're going to see, you're going to see a change, you're going to see a shrinkage happening.

And so I think that's what's, I think that's what's going on, folks.

That's my theory.

What's your theory?

Would love to hear.

You know, do me a favor, email us DM us, call us, let us know your thoughts about why you think the art market is changing and shrinking and what the root causes are.

I just think that, you know, what we're seeing in the world is a, is a huge shift away from a boomer led world into a millennial led world.

And that's impacting not just our market, but our politics and our economy.

So that's my auditorial for today.

It's all I got.

Take it or leave it, Sourdough.

Over and out.

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Not Relart is produced by Crew West Studios in Los Angeles.

Our theme music was created by Ricky Peugeot and Desi DeLauro from the band parlor Social.

Not Real Art is created by we edit podcasts and hosted by Captivate.

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We'll be back soon with another inspiring episode celebrating creative culture and the artists who make it it.