The total amount of benefits provided by the U.S. government through coronas exceeds $850 billion (about 100 trillion yen).

Art is expensive, and no amount of benefits or subsidies could have saved the gallery’s operations.

It made me think about who galleries should be operating with. Most galleries are not in business for walk-in customers. They are run by a few collectors who can afford it. The marketing of galleries is based on their participation in international art fairs such as Artversel, the reputation of artists in art magazines and websites, and more recently, artists’ credit scores (e.g., social networking followers).

So it is not something that will simply go under due to a drastic drop in tourism; it was probably the branding of the gallery to locate in Beverly Hills. So, perhaps they are trying to move locations due to the city’s brand degradation caused by the riots.

The primary gallery’s role may be to sense the needs (demand) of the city and curate local artists there. Like my gallery, I believe that there is a certain role in introducing exotic artists that no one in the world knows about.

I think the increase in tech power happening in Culver City and the decline of the Hollywood brand with the exit of China Rich may be affecting the city of Beverly Hills. Before Corona, many Hollywood films were released by capital partnerships with Tencent and Alibaba, but after Corona, the power of the city is shifting to tech giants Netflix and Amazon.

Thinking about art means thinking about society, and the result will determine the brand of the city.