From Paper to Digital: How Marco Gallery Streamlined Operations with ArtXCloud

Marco Gallery

Marco Gallery, located in Shinsaibashi, Osaka, creates a unique space that transcends boundaries with its innovative "crossover" concept. Since opening in January 2020, the gallery has continued to grow alongside its artists. To streamline price list creation and artwork management, they introduced ArtXCloud. Approximately a year and a half after implementation, we spoke with Assistant Ms. Mogita about the transformative results.

Creating Spaces That Match Each Exhibition's Vision

Tell us about what makes Marco Gallery unique.

Our gallery operates on a "crossover" concept—we're a commercial gallery that sells not only art but also miscellaneous goods and clothing. It's a space where someone might come in to buy clothes and end up purchasing art, or vice versa. The defining characteristic is that we create a space where different worlds intersect, all starting from art.

What does the gallery prioritize in its operations?

From my perspective as an assistant, it's all about being "artist-first." Our gallery director didn't originally come from the art industry but started with the desire to create exhibition spaces for artist friends. This background gives us a strong commitment to creating spaces from the artists' perspective.

Can you share an example of this artist-first approach?

For each exhibition, we listen carefully to the artists' vision and sometimes completely transform the space—repainting walls or even laying gravel on the floor. One memorable example was an artist who created "CHICOMECOATL," a corn-husking machine inspired by Aztec mythology. To match the piece's world, we painted our white walls green and red. Our team goes to great lengths to bring each artist’s vision to life.

Previously, Documents Were Created in Excel and Stored on Paper

What problems were you facing before implementing ArtXCloud?

We were spending enormous amounts of time creating price lists and artwork certificates. Depending on the exhibition size, just creating a price list could take two to three hours.

What tools were you using for document creation?

Mainly Excel. It was incredibly tedious to insert artwork images, then adjust their size and position. We constantly heard staff saying, "This isn't working well."

How were you managing your documents?

Everything was printed and filed on paper. This made it extremely difficult to reference past information—questions like "What was the price for that piece in the previous exhibition?" became major research projects. Our entire artwork management system was becoming unwieldy, and we knew we needed to completely rethink our approach.

ArtXCloud as a Comprehensive Data Archive

How often do you use ArtXCloud now?

Since artwork inquiries are increasing, I log in almost daily to check past data. We register new artworks once a month for each exhibition.

How has price list creation changed since implementing ArtXCloud?

The transformation has been remarkable. We can now register multiple items at once using CSV files, so tasks that previously took two to three hours are completed in about an hour. More importantly, our response time to inquiries has dramatically improved. Before, we sometimes had to contact artists directly because we couldn't locate past data. Now we can instantly access the information we need, which has reduced our overall workload.

What features do you find most valuable?

Since we handle a large volume of artworks, the sorting function is incredibly convenient. We can display artworks and prices simply by entering an artist's name. The cloud-based image storage is also fantastic—we can download images whenever needed. ArtXCloud serves as a comprehensive “archive” that centralizes data that was previously scattered across different systems. It has brought structure and clarity to our once-disorganized storage of documents and artwork records.

Have you noticed any secondary benefits?

Absolutely. With administrative tasks streamlined, we can now dedicate time to other important work. In particular, we’ve been able to focus more on curating shows in our self-managed third floor space—a key creative outlet for us.

Perfect for Small teams Managing Large Collections

What type of galleries would benefit most from ArtXCloud?

Galleries like ours—operating with small teams but managing large artwork collections. The more pieces you handle, the greater the impact will be.

What's your vision for Marco Gallery's future?

Many artists have been with us since our establishment, and it's no exaggeration to say we've grown together as people. New artist relationships develop through introductions from existing artists. We've been able to continue operating through these human connections and relationships. We want to keep running for many years to come as one unified team, including all our artists.