• Issue
  • Jan 02, 2024

Exhibitions of 2023: Beyond The Numbers

Installation view of JINJU LEE’s (left to right) possible Scene, 2020, powdered pigment, animal-skin glue and water on unbleached cotton, wood, 260 × 60 × 36 cm; moment 2, 2023 handmade Leejeongbae black, powdered pigment, animal-skin glue and water on unbleached cotton, 40 cm; The Lowland, 2017, powdered pigment, animal-skin glue and water on unbleached cotton, 222 × 550 cm, in

How many people experience contemporary art around the world? As Art Basel Miami Beach concluded on December 10, the giant commercial event reported that 79,000 collectors, professionals, and scenesters had strolled the aisles, with tickets costing USD 75 and upwards. In Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which opened its Sydney Modern campus in December 2022, counted more than two million people who enjoyed free admission in the first year since its expansion. M+ in Hong Kong reported a similar figure in its debut year of 2022 despite nearly three months of closure due to local Covid-19 restrictions. At the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, in Seoul, Choe U-Ram’s exhibition of mechanical sculptures “Little Ark” in 2022 was a blockbuster, with an attendance of 930,000. Overall, the museum reported an increase in the number of visitors from the “MZ” generation (those born after the early 1980s) from 47 percent in 2019 to 63 percent in early 2023.