THE CHANGING WORLD OF ART

Caption – Path to the Sea, 90x45cm acrylic on canvas – available at Artworx Gallery – admin@artworxgallery.com.au

THE CHANGING WORLD OF ART (Blog by Mike Barr)

The changing world of art

There’s no doubt about it, the art world is changing.

Once upon a time and not that long ago, an artist could only be elevated through galleries. The higher-end galleries were always the gate-keepers to any artist’s success. In fact, the careers of artists could be and still is manufactured by these galleries and the higher powers of government funded art establishments.

Today however, art is more accessible through smaller retail galleries, community sponsored art shows and of course the internet.

The general art world is more democratic these days and it has good and bad aspects to it.

The good news is that there are lots of places to buy and sell art now and at almost any price.

It’s taken quite some time for art to really get going on the internet, but it has now happened and It has been given a real boost by the affects of COVID. People are buying art online more than ever before. Artists can even sell from their own websites quite easily although it is not easy – generally online buyers will only use sites that are trusted and well-known.

Profitable online galleries have come of age and are no longer the predators that they once were, when they were making more money from artist’s fees than sales. It is now highly sophisticated and runs like a well oiled machine.

Brick and mortar galleries are now investing in online sales too like the rest of the retail world and those that don’t will eventually fall behind.

The biggest change of all is that artists are no longer powerless unless taken up by a gallery. There is so much promotional possibility through the internet today if you are prepared to do the work. The most successful artists seem to be those that are using both online and gallery opportunities.

The fact is, there are too many artists and so few galleries to service them. Some galleries have so many artists on their books that no one gets proper attention. It is also true that there are too many  artists and not enough buyers in the world.

One of the biggest problems for some time has been the saturation of the art market with cheap overseas décor work. The price of these works is often less than what an artist can buy a blank canvas for!

The artworld is more expansive now but it also has more competition and the artist has to go the extra mile to get noticed. I know several successful artists and they all have one thing in common – hard work - and not just on the production of the art itself.

Happy Painting

- Mike Barr