Social Media is changing the way art dealing is being done. The art industry is one of the most unregulated markets. Social media art dealing just makes this market a little transparent to both the artist and the collector.
Let us understand how social media is changing the market of art for both artists and collectors.
Advantages of Social Media for Artists:
Direct Audience Reach:
The power of reaching to the audience directly and having a straight conversation is huge for an artist. It was quite impossible for an artist to be able to reach to his/her audience without a dealer but powerful platforms like Facebook and Instagram have made the unthinkable possible for such artists.
Goodbye Galleries:
In earlier days, artists relied solely on galleries to be able to sell their pieces. The success of an artist was defined by the gallery which displayed their art and the popularity it had. Social media makes this entire process simpler and relieves that huge pressure off the artist as he/she gets a free platform to portray their work which can reach millions of people across the world. Artists also get the advantage of displaying art pieces for as long as they wish on social media. Doing the same in an art gallery will have its own charges.
Dodge Shady Art Dealers:
One of the biggest drawbacks of galleries is the commission that an artist needs to pay to the art dealer which is an unnecessary burden on his/her wallet. Instead, an artist can create a digital gallery on Instagram and publish all the artwork directly to reach the audience and collect the full amount of the work without paying commissions to a middleman.
The Power to be Viral:
Displaying art in a local gallery has been done for years and has its own perks but remember that only a limited audience gets to admire the art. Social media makes it possible for people all over the globe to view artwork and hence millions of viewers who use social media become the audience.
Advantages of Social Media for Collectors:
Larger Collections to Choose From:
As an art collector, the main advantage of social media is exposure to the vast art collection by various artists. From one part of the world, an avid collector can communicate with an artist in another part of the world directly.
Avoid Exorbitant Charges by Art Dealers:
Remember the infamous case of how ‘Salvator Mundi’ the last known da Vinci painting had been sold to a Russian oligarch, Dmitry Rybolovlev at an exorbitant price by his art dealer Yves Bouvier? This is what happens in most scenarios when you buy from an art dealer. The best way to buy art is to communicate directly with the artist eliminating the middleman.
Advantages of Social Media
Plagiarism:
With benefits come concerns. Though social media is an excellent platform to share your art there are miscreants and fraudsters who might use your work without giving you proper credit and internet is so vast that you might not even know of it. It is better to take all precautions like adding a watermark to your art images to safeguard your work from plagiarism before uploading it online.
Denying change never works in your favor. Though dealing through an art gallery still is considered big but to make a breakthrough in the art world using Social media can aid you to reach out to millions of art lovers and collectors helping you to kick start your art career.