Contemporary art gallery

Depending upon the expertise of the gallery owner and staff, and the particular market, the artwork shown may be more innovative or more traditional in style and media.

As a general rule, commercial galleries do not charge admission to the public, perhaps in a nod to the egalitarian philosophies of many artists and critics and to encourage attendance, or perhaps in the interests of just good business.

Some galleries in cities like Tokyo and in New York charge the artists a flat rate per day or per week, though this is considered distasteful in some international art markets.

Commercial galleries often choose to represent artists exclusively, giving them the opportunity to have solo shows regularly.

Documentation of these kinds of art such as photographic records, are often shown and sold in galleries however, as are preliminary or process drawings and collages (such as those generated by Christo as part of the proposal to governing bodies when applying to install land works).

However, they may also be found in small communities, and remote areas where artists congregate, e.g. the Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art (Montsoreau) in France, the Chinati Foundation (Marfa) in United States, the Taos art colony (Taos) in New Mexico and St Ives, Cornwall; (Hill End), (Braidwood) and (Byron Bay) in New South Wales Contemporary art galleries are usually free and open to the public; however, some are semi-private, more exclusive, and by appointment only.

Galleries tend to cluster in certain neighborhoods within cosmopolitan cities for economic and practical reasons, mainly that it is possible for the buyers and general public to view more art if they can travel by foot.

In the past galleries have tended to cluster in neighborhoods with affordable real-estate due to the unprofitable nature of the business.