The art industry is overdue for massive change—Here’s why
Allow me to indulge in an idyllic dream for a moment.
I’ve been consuming a lot of content about companies that have disrupted their respective industries. Uber and AirBnB are some of the most notable, but there are many smaller brands I’d never heard of before that have quietly made a major impact.
You might think a company called EggCartons.com would be a small, mundane business run by some farmer in Iowa. The website is nothing special: a basic Shopify storefront that looks like it was built by someone’s teenage nephew. On the contrary, this is a multi-million dollar business owned by a savvy businesswoman who revolutionized how egg cartons are bought and sold and now has a relative monopoly on the egg carton market.
All this got me thinking that the art world hasn’t ever had a truly disruptive event in a long time. The Internet would be the first major event in modern history that helped artists break free from traditional means of selling their art and take some of the power away from galleries and dealers. However, once the galleries and dealers figured out they could also sell work online, the playing field was tipped again in their favor.
Prominent New York gallery Saatchi & Saatchi invested millions in the company's online presence and turned Saatchiart.com into one of the largest online galleries in the world. Between Saatchi, Artsy.com, and Artfinder, they control a majority stake in online art sales.
I found myself going down a rabbit hole of thought around what it would take to truly disrupt the power structure of the art world. After posing the question on Threads and taking in feedback (filtering an extreme amount of starving artist mindset), I came to the conclusion that three things would need to happen.
A forward-thinking, entrepreneurial-minded person or company would need to devise an easier way for art to be shared and sold in a way that’s highly beneficial to artists.
The platform is so good for artists and collectors that it shifts the paradigm around the value of art (lofty goal).
Artists need to get out of their own way, stop succumbing to old mentalities, and start speaking about their work with pride and intention (even loftier goal).
First, relax. If that doesn’t feel like you, I wasn’t talking to you. However, for every enterprising artist, there are dozens who think like this:
Reality Smacks Hard
On point #1 above, to gain traction, the platform must show a potential for exponential growth, which means artists will need to become invested in the platform themselves, both mentally and financially. There would need to be an exchange of good faith between the artists and the platform and between the platform and investors willing to contribute significantly to the ideology.
None of that happens unless the platform can find innovative ways to infiltrate potential art collectors’ hearts and minds. The biggest obstacle would be the fine art industry itself. The disruption could potentially upend the high-art market’s financial system, and many nefarious entities would never allow that to happen.
Ideally, the market could be split between high-art investments, small art businesses, and individuals wanting to sell enough art to live comfortably if there was a clear delineation between those two categories and a way to pull away from the traditional art market (some won’t like me saying that), there’s an opportunity to create a promotional strategy that embraces the value of how art enriches lives of everyone, instead of just the billionaires looking for a tax shelter.
However, none of this happens unless artists stop making consolations about the status quo. Changing the status quo requires changing our perspective on how to run a successful art business. Most artists don’t have the slightest clue what that means. They make no effort to improve their business knowledge or skills aside from asking, “How often do I have to post on social media before I go viral?”
One of the most prominent objections I hear from artists is that they are tired of having to do constant promotion and would instead focus on creating. I’m sure most artists would love that, and it’s primarily why so many want the promise of gallery representation. When you’re operating your art business entirely by yourself, there are always too many things you need to do. If too many of those things are keeping you away from the art, you’ll burn out, get bitter, and maybe quit, all while talking shit about how the market is a racket, social media is a scam, and you’re going to burn all your canvases in effigy.
The Paradigm Shift
What I’m about to share is a theory. I don’t have a strong proof of concept, but success leaves clues, and instead of repeating the same efforts that every struggling artist, we look to the ones who’ve taken a more traditional approach to their business.
One of the worst-kept secrets in the business world is that it’s essential to reinvest profits back into the business to grow. One way businesses grow is by adding members to the team to help take on the burden. A creative leader who doesn’t like dealing with finances might hire a bookkeeper to take that responsibility off their plate. The less time creative leaders spend on financial issues, the more time they have to be innovative.
Perhaps you can already see where I’m going with this, but why can’t regular, everyday artists like you and me hire help to take on some of the burdens so we can spend more time doing the stuff that keeps us happy?
When we’re happy and creative, we will likely positively express that outward into the world. Those good vibes are felt by the people in our circle of influence, and they feel happy and inspired to share you with others, which has the potential to turn them into collectors.
The better you feel about making and selling art, the better your customers will think about buying it and telling all their friends about it.
Now, this is where some will say, “Dave, I don’t have the money to hire someone. I barely make enough to pay for tools and supplies!”
Most galleries will sell art and only take a commission after the sale, but they curate who they believe they can sell based on their client base. That’s a limiting scenario, but what if you had your private agent whose primary job was to promote and sell your work by any means necessary, and they only get paid when they sell?
Again, this is idyllic, but if you had someone taking your work around to conventional and unconventional places, selling, promoting, and bringing in enough money to keep you in supplies and then some, wouldn’t that improve your state of mind?
You’re making money, the agent is making money, and everyone’s perspective on the world is glorious, which the rest of the community feels. What if you had two agents or ten? What if it was an entire platform built around the selling art, not just to the rich and privileged, but to the world, and in a more direct approach where art is shown not as an investment but as enrichment to our lives?
This is just one idea of many on how artists can start taking more control over their destiny and converting onlookers into enthusiastic patrons, but that’s a topic for another time.
