Entering an art gallery is, still today, an unusual gesture. No ticket is needed, there is no marked route, no one forces you to stay or to buy anything. And yet, there is a certain invisible resistance: the feeling that this space is not entirely for you, that perhaps you won't know enough, that perhaps you won't understand it. In a fast-paced world, saturated with images and immediate consumption, the gallery still demands something unusual: time, attention, and a certain willingness not to understand everything, or to let yourself be challenged by the art presented before you.
Perhaps that's why, as gallerist Joana Roda, from Bombon, reflected, going to a gallery is, in itself, "an act of resistance".
Stopping —amidst the frantic pace of our time— is an act of resistance. And so is it as a means of communication, but we like to do it from time to time. We consider it a luxury: to stop following the fragmented rhythm of current events to closely observe a single ecosystem —that of Barcelona's art galleries— and understand how it works, who sustains it, and where it is moving. A leisurely look that allows us to conclude something more than a sectoral X-ray.
Because galleries are not just exhibition spaces or cultural businesses. They are places where vision is built, where talent is detected before it is recognized, where ideas are put into circulation that, often, will end up forming part of the narrative of an era. They are also unique spaces, difficult to homogenize, each with its own identity. Understanding them —understanding gallerism— is not possible from a distance: it requires visiting them, entering them, dedicating time to them.
Only from this proximity can one intuit the major movements that are defining the current moment of gallerism in Barcelona, and its future. And here are five.
1. Local collecting, the pending subject
If there is a clear consensus within the sector —and which has been evident throughout the Art Gallery Week— it is this: Barcelona has talent, galleries, and international projection, but it lacks a solid local base to sustain the system.
"The local collector has shrunk," summarized gallerist and cultural consultant Llucià Homs. An idea that other voices in the sector take even further. From La Fuga, Maria Costafreda stated it emphatically: "In Catalonia, in Barcelona, the market is practically non-existent. The collector, the buyer, is always abroad."
And this void does not seem to come only from an economic issue —that too—. It may also be generational. The economist Enrique Lacalle, a great collector, promoter of By Invitation and president of the Círculo Ecuestre, laments that his generation "buys less and young people are not quite getting into it." "Life is more complex and there are other priorities."
A generation, however, linked to a very specific socioeconomic moment: "If young people have problems making a living, how do you expect them to spend 3,000 euros on a painting?" the gallerist Miquel Alzueta claimed. Entry into collecting, traditionally linked to entry-level works, is thus out of reach for an entire generation.
But reducing it solely to an income issue would be oversimplifying it too much. This week, some have also pointed to a cultural issue. "There is an aura of elitism, lack of transparency, and prejudice against the art world," says businessman Marc Francés, also a collector. A symbolic distance that often translates into disinterest or disconnection, and which causes, as La Fuga rightly pointed out, that today "not only is contemporary art not understood," but often "there is no intention to understand it."
Given this scenario, initiatives have begun to emerge that try to activate a new collector base: programs like MACBA Studio, aimed at those under 35; affordable subscription models like SOFT Collectors; or formats like By Invitation, designed to attract new buyers.
These are attempts to lower the entry barrier —economic, but also symbolic— to an ecosystem that, without generational replacement, runs the risk of losing its muscle.
2. The gallery model: in full mutation
However, if local collecting shows structural fragility, the gallery model explains just the opposite: a remarkable capacity for adaptation to the passage of time and generational changes. Far from disappearing, many galleries are taking advantage of the moment to redefine themselves. According to Lorena Pizarro, director of SELTZ, "galleries are abandoning this individualistic model... to bet on a system where different voices are added."
And this transformation also implies a change of role. The gallerist ceases to be a figure of authority to become an interlocutor. "Working alongside the artist, as equals," as gallerist Juliana Sorondo has advocated. Taking into account the times and her trajectory: "Succeeding too soon can be bad. Success should come when it's due," warned painter Jordi Díaz Alamà, in an idea that questions an often accelerated system.
And so, the gallery becomes much more than an exhibition space: "It's not enough to offer only a space for representation and sales," but it must become a cultural and social hub. For Laura Facci, from BETA, "the gallery must be another element of the neighborhood, like the bookstore you go to browse books... to feel part of a living space."
In parallel, consumption habits have changed, and galleries have also experienced this. Although the gallery remains the main sales channel, the digital channel has ceased to be complementary to become structural. It now represents close to 17% of global sales, and a growing part of operations are closed without physically seeing the work. Platforms like Instagram have, in fact, become key commercial tools.
This transformation process is also reflected in other dynamics of the sector, such as the progressive gender parity in the primary market —with close to 45% of exhibitions dedicated to women artists— or in the need to operate within a still small market. With about 330 million euros annually, the Spanish market is still far from the major global centers and occupies a modest seventh position in the global art market, with a share of between 0.5% and 2%. Of this percentage, by the way, Catalonia represents a quarter. Madrid, 40%.
3. A globalized Barcelona: a gallery scene with an international vocation
Beyond its internal dynamics, there is an undeniable reality: Barcelona has fully integrated into the global circuit of contemporary art."The art market has completely globalized. It has gone from being local to being global, thanks to fairs, technology, and tourism," explains Llucià Homs.
This transformation is not theoretical: it is directly reflected in the business. "Today, more than half of the pieces we sell go abroad," points out gallerist Miquel Alzueta, referring to markets such as the United States, Asia, or Europe. An idea that is repeated in the sector: "The bulk of our collectors are international," they state from Chiquita Room.
The consequence is clear: the art produced and displayed in Barcelona circulates globally. Galleries operate in an international network, with a regular presence at fairs such as ARCO or Art Basel —and also in places like Mexico or London—, which places them at the level of their global competitors and reinforces the city's role as a cultural showcase. All of this creates an ecosystem with a clear international vocation —especially among new generations of gallerists— and with a real capacity to attract attention beyond its immediate context.
4. The fair's narrative: where do we place ARCO Madrid?
One of the recurring questions in the sector is whether Barcelona has lost ground to Madrid by not having consolidated a major international fair, like ARCO in Madrid. For some agents, the answer is clear: more than the fair itself, what is missing is everything that is built around it —collecting, visibility, economic and relational ecosystem.
And, in fact, many galleries in the city still find this showcase outside. In the recent edition of ARCO Madrid, Chiquita Room, galería SENDA, Prats Nogueras Blanchard, àngels barcelona, Galería Alegría, ADN Galeria, ProjecteSD, Marc Domènech, Mayoral, Ethall, House of Chappaz, Miguel Marcos, Polígrafa Obra Gráfica, RocíoSantacruz and Bombon Projects participated.
Now, is it necessary to replicate this model in Barcelona? At this point, many voices question it. "We have the Gallery Weekend, Swab, Art Nou... What I would do is give more support to projects like the Gallery Weekend," suggested gallerist Joana Roda, from Bombon.
From this perspective, Barcelona would not be at a disadvantage, but rather operating with another logic: a distributed model, more flexible and rooted in the territory. Also more diverse. "Barcelona has all the conditions to have a great fair, but a great fair does not have to be big in size." This is the philosophy with which Mariella Franzolli explains the dimension of By Invitation, the fair organized at the Círculo Ecuestre that "is destined to become an increasingly important reference, not only in the local artistic scene, but also in Europe."
Whatever the model —generalist or specialized, local or global—, what the sector is clear about is the structural role of fairs. Not only as sales spaces, but as platforms for visibility, relationship, and positioning.
5. Spaces of resistance and pedagogy
Beyond market dynamics, structures, or internationalization, there is a function of galleries that often remains in the background, but which is essential to understanding their role: their capacity to generate thought. "Going to an art gallery is an act of resistance," we said at the beginning. But this resistance is not only a matter of time or individual attitude, but also of context: the gallery as a space that remains outside the most immediate logics of cultural consumption.
In this sense, it operates as a place of mediation. Between art and the public, but also between intuition and understanding. "One must lose the fear of approaching contemporary art and allow oneself to be challenged," defends Claudia Elies, recalling that access is neither restricted nor conditioned: "there is no need to wait for big events to discover art: we are open every day."
This function connects directly with what is happening in the emerging scene. As Las Kunst describe, Barcelona today functions as a "constellation of artists orbiting between private institutions, independent spaces that survive as best they can, and collective practices," a generation that has grown up "without too much faith in fixed categories" and that works from "hybridization, both formal and conceptual." The gallery becomes the place where these practices find visibility and meaning. Where, in the words of Las Kunst, discourses are conveyed that stem from a "distrust of images" —which "are not neutral"—, where the body appears as "a battlefield, a place of resistance," and where "other ways of living, feeling, and building the world" are brought into play.
At a time when everything tends to be simplified, these spaces advocate for precisely the opposite: complexity, doubt, interpretation. And, in doing so, they not only support artists but also consolidate the gallery as a space of resistance and pedagogy.
6. Bonus track: the tax claim
If there is one demand that runs through the entire sector —galleries, artists, and collectors— it is the review of taxation.
"While in Spain we continue with a 21% VAT for art, our European neighbors play with a competitive advantage that is emptying our galleries," warns Júlia Cruz. A difference that, as she describes, acts as an "invisible wall" that discourages both the occasional buyer and the committed collector. And the consequence —Cruz points out— is not minor: in a global market, purchases shift to where conditions are more favorable.
Along the same lines, gallerist Marc Domènech has pointed out these days a fundamental contradiction: the unequal recognition of art within cultural policies. "Art is culture," he claims, but reminds that while other disciplines have a reduced VAT, galleries pay 21%. "A book and a work of art are practically comparable."
The issue, therefore, is not only fiscal. It is also symbolic. What place does contemporary art truly occupy within our cultural model? And to what extent are we willing to sustain it —not only through discourse, but also through policies and consumption habits?
Perhaps, as we said at the beginning, the answer starts with a simple gesture: entering a gallery. Staying for a while. Stopping.