The Death of The Gallery?
Possibilities for artists have never been better than they are now, the barrier to entry has never been lower. Artists can — and they do — go solo, represent themselves, build up their own teams and their own infrastructure. With the advent of NFTs, it has become easier than ever before for artists to be independent. With NFTs, an artist can opt out of gallery representation and they no longer need an agency to collect the secondary resale values of the artworks — smart contracts associated with NFTs will do it automatically. Thus the question often comes up — is there even a place for galleries representing artists in the age of NFTs?
For starters, let’s set the record straight — while Sedition’s founding concept comes from decades of experience in traditional bricks and mortar galleries, Sedition is by no means just an online version of a bricks-and-mortar gallery. For example, Sedition does not ask for exclusivity from our artists. We believe that an artist should not be limited by constraints of working only with Sedition — or any single representative. We recommend that artists put themselves out there as much as they can! The more widely known an artist and their work is — the better for them and the better for us. However, when it comes to the artist remuneration on the site, Sedition’s model has actually originated from the traditional gallery model — we share the profit from the sales of editions 50/50 with our artists.
During our time working with contemporary art and artists, we often hear people’s thoughts on the profit share between artists and their galleries or agents. Some believe that a 50 percent split is outrageous and just disadvantageous to the artist! On the other hand many well established and successful artists are enthusiastic about the partnership and recognise the benefits available to them. At Sedition, we’d like to think we can see the argument from both sides. Several members of our management structure have come through the gallery world and have deep experience of the artist /gallerist relationship. Many of us are working artists and have some experience of the other side of the coin — how the relationship works for the artists and the difficulties in obtaining such a relationship in the first place!
Galleries work hard to establish artists’ reputation, set price-points for their work, develop their marketplace, position works into important collections both public and private, to commission and create critical opinion, catalogue essays and articles. To say nothing of managing the sales pipeline, collector’s interests and all forms of promotion for their artists. Working with a gallery gives an artist both the infrastructure to widen their reach across established collector communities which the gallery may have nurtured, and in many cases offers the artist some insurance against financial losses, production costs and so on. In these cases, it is the gallery that assumes the upfront cost of setting up the exhibition — which, depending on the scope of the exhibition, can run into hundreds of thousands! Only when the financial costs have been recouped does the gallery start making money — and the risk is shouldered — or at least shared — by the gallery. In essence, galleries take on a large share of the financial risk in hopes that their belief in the artist is vindicated and that money comes back to them down the line.
The relationship between the artist and the gallery can — and should — be viewed as a mutually beneficial business relationship between two parties. Galleries offer artists a broad base of skills and support, which should enable the artist to explore their artistic passions without the distractions of managing clients, deliveries, exhibition organisation, marketing, and everything else.
This is not to say that as an artist you cannot sell your own art — as the creator you’re probably the best-placed person to present and sell your work. However — selling art is a full time job! The infrastructure required — art-handlers and technicians, shipping and delivery services, printing and marketing, invoicing, accounting, customer relationship management etc — is quite extensive, and very time consuming to develop! There are certainly artists who manage this very well — but in our experience it is a common realisation that doing the job of selling and representing your art can often leave you with little time and head-space to actually create it.
Okay, this should make the role of traditional bricks-and-mortar galleries fairly clear. But what about the digital realm? If you, as an artist, can just attach your work to an NFT, doesn’t that remove the need for a gallery? Or of platforms like Sedition, for that matter?
It is definitely true that in the NFT and digital space everything is different and for digitally native artists, a traditional gallery function per se may not be required — when you sell and display works digitally, a lot of logistical challenges are eliminated. However, the NFT space above all else underscores the need for a community. The most successful artists and the most successful platforms are the ones that have been able to nurture and grow their communities. In addition, distribution challenges present themselves in a different manner — the struggle is no longer with physical but digital distribution, no longer how to deliver to the collector’s house but how to ensure that the collector will be able to enjoy an artwork in the way the artist wanted them to see it. Finally, and perhaps most importantly with regards to the digital domain, is context. It is no accident that art is traditionally enjoyed in the ‘white cube’ of a gallery space. How you view a work matters — your surroundings, the context in which you come to a work will inevitably inform your responses to that work — whether or not you are aware of it!
These three areas — and a few others! — underscore the importance and the need for a platform like Sedition. At Sedition, we strive to be the best service for every artist. We have a community of people from various walks of life and with different interests spread across every continent — among our community you will find gallery and museum goers, traditional art collectors, established and aspiring artists and everyone from the TikTok and digital generation to octogenarian art-lovers! In addition, we offer our collectors a suite of apps to enjoy artworks as artworks — not merely thumbnails across a screen. Our apps will deliver a display of contemporary artworks in the correct resolution, tempo, colour saturation and form that the artist intended for them to be seen. Furthermore, we have an established and growing network of private and business partners across the world, such as hotels, airports, waiting rooms, hospitals, office lobbies and many others, who display the artworks in a public setting. This creates incredible opportunities to develop new audiences in new communities and to grow dependable revenue streams for the artists on our platform. Importantly, as an artist on Sedition you appear in an exquisitely curated context amongst some of the most celebrated contemporary artists alive today — figures such as Tracey Emin, Bill Viola, Yoko Ono, Jenny Holzer, Shepard Fairey, Refik Anadol and many other titans of the contemporary art world. The depth of our audience, the fully serviced suite of apps, licensed displays in public venues and museums, private commissions, and a community of many of the most celebrated artists and creators in the world are just some of the reasons why you should be on Sedition! But don’t take our word for it — we don’t expect anyone to take this on faith. Come and join us and we’ll prove that we’re worth our percentage 😉
In conclusion, at Sedition we believe that — despite the advent of NFTs, there is most definitely a place for both the traditional gallery as well as platforms such as Sedition. NFTs are moving the needle, and we love the opportunities this has opened up for both artists and collectors in the digital domain! However they don’t change the underlying tenet — creating art and selling art are two very different activities. A relationship between an artist and a gallery or a platform is a symbiosis. An artist can certainly live without a gallery (though no gallery can survive without its artists) — but they would have to become an entrepreneur in the process and hire-in or learn different skills. This may not be a bad thing — but perhaps it’s not for everyone. Sedition works hand in hand with the artists on our platform — we have set up multiple avenues for an artist to monetize their work: subscription, edition sales, licensing, commissions, and now — NFTs. Artists can be free to focus on what they do best — creating art. Sure you can go it alone, but we think we’re better together 😊
