Neoliberal Marketization of Global Contemporary Visual Art Worlds: Changes in Valuations and the Scope of Local and Global Markets

Abstract

Neoliberal marketization has helped in the rise of a new art market as the influx of new money from both geographically new markets (i.e., Asian art markets) and a new group of art buyers (i.e., art investors) challenged key practices of the traditional art world in terms of valuation and consumption. This chapter illustrates how recent market change(s) in the contemporary art market expedite the reordering of status in contemporary art. Moreover, marketization, through commensuration and financialization, has made the cultural order in global art world less significant especially in newly emerging art markets. Focusing on the mechanisms and practice changes, the author shows how marketization has changed the conventional valuations and consumption practices in art markets, and created a growing interest in Asian contemporary art markets.