The Market

The sway of transnational markets over contemporary culture has transformed art’s environment, blurring the previously discrete realms of price and value, capital and creativity.

Uncovering the origins of these phenomena in earlier epochs, this anthology surveys the relations between art, value and price; the evolution and influence of patronage; the institutions and networks of the art world; and the diversity of artistic practices that either criticize or embrace contemporary market conditions.

Artists surveyed include Carl Andre, Michael Asher, Fia Backström, Joseph Beuys, Ian Burn, Maurizio Cattelan, Elmgreen & Dragset, Andrea Fraser, Melanie Gilligan, Dan Graham, Guerrilla Girls, Andreas Gursky, Hans Haacke, Damien Hirst, Christian Jankowski, Yves Klein, Jeff Koons, Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Les Levine, Liu Ding, Lee Lozano, Takashi Murakami, Ahmet Ögüt, Tino Sehgal, Richard Serra, Nedko Solakov, Andy Warhol, Fred Wilson and Zhou Tiehai.

Writers include Theodor Adorno, Jack Bankowsky, Jean Baudrillard, Luc Boltanski, Pierre Bourdieu, Martin Braathen, Malcolm Bull, JJ Charlesworth, Eve Chiapello, Sophie Cras, Anthony Davies, Thierry de Duve, Marvin Elkoff, Simon Ford, Hal Foster, Peter Fuller, William Grampp, Josh Greenfeld, Michel Houellebecq, Miwon Kwon, Kate Linker, Lü Peng, Ursula Pasero, Scott Rothkopf, Peter Schjeldahl, Thomas Seelig, Marc Shell, Georg Simmel, Barbara Herrnstein Smith, Wolfgang Ullrich, Karen van den Berg, Thorstein Veblen, Olav Velthuis, Dorothea von Hantelmann, Tom Wolfe and Thomas Zaunschirm.

Natasha Degen is a professor at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York and a contributor to publications including Artforum, frieze, and The Financial Times.