The world of the Visual Arts...

2024, the year that was...

Indigenism

Through sculpture, installation or painting, indigenous cultures reveal their power, emerging in public spaces, in the art market, in galleries and even in the most traditional institutions. Memory and ecology are the predominant themes of these works focused on the richness of diversity, provoking an aesthetic experience in which this identity, connected with nature (now more necessary than ever), emerges. This retro-aesthetic reaffirms itself, no longer just as a passing whisper, but as a roar ready to stay.

Survival of immersive exhibitions

The immersive exhibitions continue to attract all types of audiences, the absence of the “aura” (not having the original artwork in front of us) is not an issue, since visitors seem to prefer the waterfall of visual, auditory and even physical sensations received through these replicas of the most iconic works of the history of art. Therefore, understanding this explains why argumentative resources or curatorships with several explanatory cores are uninteresting: the spectacle is what counts.

The year of Mondongo
Juliana Laffitte and Manuel Mendanha, the Argentine artists behind Mondongo, occupied the front lines of several publications for the presentation of Manifestación at MALBA, Baptisterio de los colores at Arthaus and the installation of twenty landscapes at the opening of MALBA Puertos. Apart from these triumphant exhibitions, was the market success, where exorbitant prices were achieved. Collector Andrés Buhar paid $1.27 million for the landscape installation.

The rise of Mauricio Cattelan's Comedian
Nothing created the impact of Maurizio Cattelán's "banana taped to the wall," auctioned for $6.24 million. Conceived in 2019, where it caused quite a sensation at the Perrotin gallery at ArtBasel Miami, it had, according to the auctioneer Sothebys, a base between 1 and 1.5 million dollars. Finally the hammer came down at 6.2 million for crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who obviously paid in crypto and ate the banana.

Comedian, by Maurizio Cattelan

Sothebys

Artificial intelligence

The world is changing rapidly, inexorably and sometimes unpredictably. Artificial Intelligence has been transforming the art market with efficiency and innovation. Miami's ArtBasel had an app that was updated according to the visitor's interests, recommending in real time what to see, who to listen to, or what event to attend. It also provided interesting and valuable data about the artists and galleries.

In addition, Christie's auction house uses AI to speed up cataloging and even allows them to advance the authentication of works. However, threads regarding the privacy of transactions and the data of those involved persists.