"All Dressed Up Like Art Galleries"

(Article taken from The New York Times on January 28, 2009)

“Tradition dictated that art be displayed in a clean space on a white wall, with nothing around it,” said Linda Warren, a dealer in Chicago. To stray outside the confines of the white cube was, she said, to risk a “perception that the artist is selling out.” However, as the economy continues to take a nosedive, such tradition is going to the wayside. Many galleries have found themselves shutting their doors as they face mounting overhead and declining sales. With this, many galleries are being forced to close so exhibitions are becoming more popular in restaurants, hotels, and even condo lobbies. Yet, even more art is making its way into the world of fashion. As fashion boutique owners are finding themselves unable to continue fully filling their retail space with high-end designer labels, they are now filling the space with local artists works. For example, Confederacy, a hot retail spot in boho East Hollywood that sells such fashion labels as Marc Jacobs and Zac Posen, is now also exhibiting and selling etchings by blue-chip artists, Francis Bacon and Francisco Clemente. As stated by one boutique owner, "In this economy, you have to be inventive". Such inventive strategies are a must to continue peaking the interests of the consumer and as experts continue to be pessimistic about the economy's future, the "boutique-as-gallery phenomenon" is expected to only become even more commonplace.

As an apparel retailing major it is important to know such strategies that are being used within retail stores to keep them afloat during a time of such economic crises. Having always had an interest in possibly owning my own boutique one day, this is of particular interest to me to see how small business owners of boutiques are managing to cut costs in order to ride out and even attempt to actually survive the economic slump. It is very interesting to me how boutique owners can use the work of artists to fill up spaces that they can no longer afford to fill with their own inventory; while at the same time the artist(s) is able to once again make some money after finding their works having lost their "homes" (galleries) and former source of income.