Kastor's Daily Life

Is There an Escape Hatch?

The standard prescription is “more transparency.” Disclose auction guarantees. Reveal collector-board member conflicts. Publish resale histories. These are necessary but insufficient. The problem isn’t a lack of information. It’s a concentration of power. A small number of collectors, dealers, and institutions control the narrative. They don’t need to conspire. Their interests simply align.

Is There a Way Out?

Some artists and dealers are pushing back. They’re building alternative models—artist-run spaces, subscription-based sales, direct-to-collector platforms that bypass the gallery system. These efforts are small and fragile, but they matter. They create pockets of autonomy where work can be weird, slow, and unmonetized. Critics have a role, too. We can refuse to treat auction prices as a measure of importance.

The Exit Strategy: Can Painting Survive Its Patrons?

The situation is grim, but not hopeless. The very excesses of the market are generating a backlash. A growing number of artists are consciously opting out of the mega-gallery system. They are forming collectives, running their own spaces, and selling directly to a community of supporters.