Art and architecture: when the gallery commissions site-specific works

01A genealogy of site-specific art

The notion of the site-specific work was constituted in a critical dialogue with the conventional museum and gallery. Richard Serra, installing his immense steel sculptures in public spaces, asserted that the work could not exist outside the place for which it had been conceived. Removing the work from its site was equivalent to destroying it. Daniel Buren, with his columns at the Palais-Royal in Paris and his innumerable in-situ interventions worldwide, made the place of presentation a constitutive material of the work. Gordon Matta-Clark sculpted entire buildings, cutting through floors and walls to transform architecture into artistic experience.

These pioneers opened a path that contemporary artists follow with renewed creativity. Olafur Eliasson creates immersive installations that transform architectural space into sensory environments. Anish Kapoor conceives monumental sculptures that dialogue with the architecture of their host venues. Felice Varini paints anamorphoses on building facades and interiors, creating images that appear only from a precise viewpoint. Henrique Oliveira creates organic wood installations that invade existing architecture like a natural growth. Ernesto Neto suspends biomorphic textile structures that completely redefine the experience of architectural space.

In France, the tradition of public commissions for site-specific works is particularly alive. The 1% artistique programme, which obliges public project owners to dedicate a percentage of construction costs to an artistic commission, has generated thousands of in-situ works in schools, hospitals, courts and administrative buildings. The FRAC (regional contemporary art collections) regularly commission site-specific works for their spaces. The Fondation Louis Vuitton, the Palais de Tokyo and the Centre Pompidou programme in-situ installations that rank among the most widely covered events on the French art calendar.

02The gallery as site-specific creation venue

Several pioneering galleries have made site-specific commissioning a central element of their programme. Galleria Continua, in its San Gimignano spaces, has commissioned in-situ works from artists such as Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor and Daniel Buren, transforming the former industrial buildings housing the gallery into total works of art. Galerie Perrotin, in its Marais space in Paris, has hosted site-specific installations by JR, Daniel Arsham and Takashi Murakami generating considerable media coverage. White Cube in London has commissioned in-situ works from Damien Hirst and Antony Gormley for its Bermondsey spaces. Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, in its Pantin space near Paris, possesses an exceptional architectural volume naturally suited to large-scale installations.

For the dealer, site-specific commissioning transforms the exhibition into an event. A work conceived specifically for the gallery space generates media coverage superior to that of a conventional hanging. Journalists, critics and curators travel to see a work that exists only in this place and for a limited duration. The urgency of the visit, created by the ephemeral character of the installation, increases attendance and public engagement. Social media amplify this effect, as spectacular installations are massively photographed and shared by visitors.

03The commissioning process: from dialogue to realisation

Commissioning a site-specific work is a complex process requiring close collaboration between dealer and artist. The starting point is the place. The dealer invites the artist to visit the space, to take its measurements, to understand its light, volumes, architectural constraints and structural possibilities. The artist responds to this place with a project that reveals its hidden qualities, transforms its perception and creates an experience the visitor could not have had in any other space.

The production budget is a major negotiation point. Site-specific works often involve high production costs: specific materials, bespoke fabrication, transport of heavy or bulky elements, intervention by specialist trades (carpenters, electricians, welders, building painters). The dealer must establish a realistic production budget and determine the cost split between gallery and artist. In most cases, the gallery covers all or part of production costs, with the artist contributing their design and supervision work.

The production timeline is equally critical. A site-specific work cannot be installed in a single day. Most installations require several days, sometimes several weeks of assembly. The dealer must plan for a gallery closure period for installation and deinstallation, representing a lost opportunity in programming terms. This opportunity cost must be integrated into the project's profitability calculation. The logistics of deinstallation are also a parameter to anticipate, as certain works require delicate dismantling mobilising specialist teams over several days.

04Commercial dimensions of the site-specific work

The commercial question of site-specific work is paradoxical. By definition, a work conceived for a precise location cannot be sold to a collector who would install it in another space. And yet, site-specific work generates real and significant commercial opportunities.

The first opportunity is architectural commissioning. An architect, property developer or business leader who discovers a site-specific installation in a gallery may see the potential for a similar commission in their own spaces. The architectural commission market is an under-recognised but lucrative segment of the art market, often representing amounts exceeding those of the canvas or paper market. The artist who has demonstrated their ability to dialogue with architecture within a gallery context is naturally positioned for commissions in corporate lobbies, hotel foyers, private reception spaces or public buildings. Galleries such as Pace Gallery in New York have developed departments dedicated to architectural commissioning and art advisory for property developers, generating substantial revenue.

The second opportunity concerns derivative works. The artist creating a site-specific installation often produces, in parallel, maquettes, preparatory drawings, modular elements or reduced-scale versions that can be sold as autonomous works. These derivative works benefit from the aura of the main installation and are sold with a mediation discourse linking them to an ambitious project. The dealer who anticipates this derivative production at the commissioning stage optimises the project's commercial potential.

The third opportunity is documentation. Photographs and videos of the site-specific installation become works in their own right when edited by the artist as prints or video editions. Christo and Jeanne-Claude financed their monumental projects by selling drawings, maquettes and photographs of their ephemeral installations. This model remains relevant for contemporary artists working in situ, and the dealer who organises a professional photographic campaign of the installation invests in an image catalogue that can generate sales for years.

05Legal and technical questions

Site-specific commissioning raises legal questions the dealer must anticipate. The first concerns ownership of the work. A site-specific work deinstalled at the end of the exhibition generally belongs to the artist, who may reinstall it in another context or recycle its materials. The contract between gallery and artist must specify the work's status after deinstallation, the conditions for potential reinstallation and ownership of the constituent elements.

The second question concerns insurance. A site-specific work whose value is difficult to estimate, using unusual materials and installed in a commercial space, poses specific insurance questions the dealer must address with their insurer. The insurance contract must cover not only the work's value but also potential damage to the gallery space caused by installation or deinstallation, as well as civil liability in case of incidents involving visitors.

The third question concerns administrative authorisations. Certain site-specific installations, particularly those modifying the building's structure or visible from public space, may require authorisations from local authorities. The dealer must verify these obligations in advance and integrate administrative timelines into the project schedule. Safety regulations, particularly regarding evacuation and accessibility, must be respected even when the installation substantially modifies the space's configuration.

06Building a reputation around site-specific work

The dealer who makes site-specific commissioning a signature of their programme builds a reputation distinguishing them in the gallery landscape. Collectors, curators and journalists identify the gallery as a place where something exceptional happens, a place that takes risks and offers experiences impossible to have elsewhere. This reputation attracts ambitious artists seeking a gallery capable of supporting complex projects, and it attracts collectors seeking a visionary dealer.

Rigorous documentation of each site-specific project is essential for capitalising on this reputation. A catalogue or publication accompanying each installation, with professional photographs, a critical text and technical documentation, constitutes a durable communication tool that outlives the ephemeral work and attests to the dealer's capacity to carry ambitious projects. These publications also serve as commercial prospecting tools, as they can be sent to architects, developers and companies likely to commission in-situ works.

For Artedusa partner galleries, site-specific works and architectural commissions represent a specific market segment that the platform renders visible. Documentation of in-situ installations, presented as photographic portfolios and videos, allows collectors and architects worldwide to discover the artist's work and to consider similar commissions for their own spaces. Artedusa thus becomes a bridge between the gallery as a place of creation and the international architectural commission market.