The Saatchi gallery currently exists only online, and they have cunningly added forums, blogs, chats and the ability for any artist to upload images for the art world to see. Of course there is the perceived cachet of somehow being associated with the Saatchi name, and the site promises to “showcase your work to thousands of visitors every day”. There are currently thousands of artists listed on the site. So, if you wish somehow that you were a London-based artist with London-type opportunities, upload your work. You never know, someone other than just another desperate artist might be perusing the site and be blown away by your talent.
Apparently, according to an article in the Guardian, some dealers are already spending upwards of £100,000 on paintings without seeing them in the flesh.
Perhaps I’m just a cranky cynic, but all this sounds like marketing hype to me. There are so many artists listed, and it takes ages to start looking through the work. Most of the work seems to be painting, painting and more painting, although they have recently started a video section of the site, which is more interesting. For a review see loadedpun
If nothing else, it drives home the point that there are many, many, many artists out there. Perhaps billions, depending on your definition of art.
September 12, 2006 at 10:43 am
[...] Wanna be a curator? Saatchi’s online Your Gallery and the Guardian are running a ‘unique‘ contemporary art show. 30 artists have been preselected from the thousands on Your Gallery – and we, the public, get to choose our favorites. (Is this what they mean to suggest is curating?) I did express some cynicism around Saatchi’s online gallery, but it would appear that indeed there are curators and critics perusing the work, including Saatchi himself. In an interview with the Guardian, “Saatchi says he has taken a self-denying ordinance to buy nothing from his Your Gallery website for six months. “I didn’t want there to be any confusion about what the site was there for. I wasn’t intending the site to be used for artists to present their work to any one individual. So I thought I won’t stick my oar in until it has a life of its own. I’ve made a note of all the artists on there that I think are very good – it’s a surprisingly long list.” [...]