Art is no longer confined to a wall. You have seen it everywhere, in every form possible.
Over the past decades, art has expanded beyond just a piece hanging on a gallery wall. It has entered everyday life, through the form of merch. Merchandise makes art approachable and extends the reach of galleries and museums. These items transform the way we carry, interact with, and engage with culture in a modern, accessible way.
Art As Everyday Object
Art now creeps into the fabric of our daily routines, all becoming a medium for artistic expression, reshaping how people encounter and interact with art.
For instance, collaborations between artists and design brands show how merchandise can merge in unexpected ways. One of Deodato Arte’s roster artists, Mr.Savethewall, collaborated with Italian high-end lighting brand Zafferano, reimagining lamps as sculptural statement pieces, turning functional objects into luminous artworks. These partnerships allow artists to extend their practice into everyday life, creating functional, beautiful objects deeply connected to their artistic style. In this new landscape, art becomes interactive and part of how we live, not just how we decorate.
The Rise of Collectible Merch
Beyond home objects, merch has evolved into a new form of collectible culture. It has become a popular first step into collecting, especially for the new, younger audiences who want to own something meaningful without the barrier of traditional fine-art prices.
This shift is amplified by the booming art-toy market, which transforms characters and sculptures into limited-edition collectibles. From Kusama’s pumpkin keychains, KAWS’ vinyl figures, Bearbricks, and other contemporary collectible icons, collectible merch offers an approachable entry point into the art world. What ties them together is their ability to translate an artist’s visual language into accessible, small-scale sculptures that people can hold, trade, and display. These items are small, yet approachable. They democratize collecting by allowing people to own iconic works without the need for gallery-level budgets.
Merch says you do not need a whitewall to start a collection; you can begin with something you hold in your hands or hang on your bags.
Merch as Cultural Capital
Art Merch is not just an object; it is a signal. Wearing or owning it expresses taste, identity, and cultural knowledge, especially in this era where taste is communicated visually and instantly.
Whether it is a MoMA hoodie, a Tate tote, a Murakami flower phone case, or a limited-edition artist lamp, it speaks before the wearer ever does, becoming a subtle badge of belonging to a creative community. These items blur the line between fashion and art, turning everyday wear into an extension of one’s cultural self.
For galleries, museums, and contemporary art spaces, this creates a new kind of cultural dialogue. When artists translate their practice into merchandise, they are not just expanding their audience; they are allowing people to carry their work into public space, turning culture into something mobile and performative. In this sense, merch becomes cultural capital, a form of storytelling through the objects we choose to carry and display, something you declare.
The Institutional Shift
Art and cultural institutions, and galleries around the world, have embraced merchandise as a new extension of their curatorial identity. Museum shops across the globe, such as The MoMA Design Store, The V&A’s fashion collaborations, now treat merch as part of their cultural ecosystem. This shift is not simply commercial. It reflects a broader change in how institutions understand audience engagement–people want to take culture home with them.
Deodato’s merchandise aligns perfectly with this global movement. Their curated gift shop, from collectible items to artist-led interpretations, echoes what major institutions have been doing: extending the artist’s world into formats that audiences can integrate into their daily lives.
Living With Art: A New Creative Ecosystem
Merch isn’t replacing art — it’s reframing it. Instead of being confined to galleries, art now lives in wardrobes, kitchens, bedrooms, offices, and on the streets. It is a new creative ecosystem where art moves freely. And in this landscape, both institutions and galleries are redefining what it means to own art.
For spaces like Deodato, which work closely with pop and contemporary artists, this evolution feels organic. Their artists’ aesthetic languages already live at the intersection of art, design, and popular culture, making merch not just an add-on, but a natural extension of artistic storytelling.
This new era of art experience is expanding how people relate to creativity; it lives with us and within the rituals of our everyday lives.