Gallery Beat

ARTISTS ADAPT IN THE

COVIDIAN AGE

As I have been hammering now for several issues, the Covidian Age has delivered significant shockwaves throughout the world, severely disrupting ancient business models all over the place.

While it can be argued that the current art business model was somewhat invented in the 19 th and refined in the 20 th century (can you imagine an original Picasso being sold in the early part of the 20 th century in a framing shop in Paris?), the Covidian monster has nonetheless put a nearly full stop on the commodification of art.

Yeah, yeah… we’ve got the Internet and virtual art, etc….but even though I have been all onboard with the clear model of having a solid and powerful web presence as an artist, and for dealers, and advisors, and anyone who wants to make money through the creation, distribution and sales of art, and having created my first art website in 1992, and having received millions of clicks/visitors to various art websites, I can still tell you that my empirical experience has provided evidence that most people – at least when it comes to emerging artists – and collectors like to see it in person, chat with the dealer or artist, become peripherally involved/invested in the art – before they make the plunge to buy it.