Given the current environment in which many businesses are operating, industries around the world had to reshape conventional business models to survive the threat of the ongoing global pandemic. One industry, in particular, the gallery industry has found new hope as it moves from displaying art in galleries and fairs, to an online market. With re-occurring lockdown restrictions and limited social movement, art galleries, like many other businesses have now managed to use technology and the internet as a way to survive.
This is his instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/tedyzet/
A shift from traditional thinking to modern innovation has helped artists to better understand their buyers. Online art auctions, trading and sales have increased significantly since the start of the pandemic, and one artist, in particular, has found massive success in conducting business online than in traditional art galleries.
Lithuanian-born visual artist Tadas Zaicikas shared his opinion regarding the shift to the online world of art. With a larger pool of potential buyers, curators, and collectors, Zaicikas is positive that the pandemic has helped the gallery industry to rethink how it can survive in the fast-growing digital era.
Why have online art auctions become so popular?
Many businesses are now looking towards the internet as a new source of hope. For the gallery industry, it has meant that online auctions and sales can now be done quicker and more convenient.
Zaicikas started selling his art online since most galleries had to temporarily close down. Although this has taken away the physical interaction with the art he creates, it has allowed him to sell his art faster, and a larger pool of interested buyers.
Coverage on the topic has revealed that online sales increased drastically compared to previous years. In the past two years alone, online art sales have grown by 37%, this is compared to a smaller 10% in 2019. The time it can take to create and finish a piece of art, to finally put it on display in a gallery can take weeks, or months. In just a short while, Zaicikas has now grown his art business exponentially. With more online exposure, artists can now easily sell their art, grow their network of buyers, and tap into previously unknown markets.
Can online art sales help artists sustain themselves?
Even the largest art galleries in the world felt the impact caused by the pandemic, and for some artists, the effects were even more devastating. Just like Zaicikas, many artists struggled to keep their art careers afloat as lockdown restrictions kept art galleries closed. For many artists selling their art is a crucial part of their lifeline. If they don’t sell any art, they won’t receive an income.
Moving to a digital platform, artists have found massive success to grow their business. Zaicikas finds great pleasure in conducting business online, and it’s helped him sustain his visual art career. Yes, we can’t deny that our urge to physically see and perhaps touch the art we treasure isn’t the same as viewing it online. But in a time of unprecedented events, artists managed to keep their finger on the pulse of an industry struggling to re-establish itself.
What is the biggest driving force behind online art sales?
The gallery industry might remain relevant for the time being, but the internet is a vast medium that can be explored by people in some of the most remote places around the world. People’s hunger for art and creativity has been the monetary element of online art auctions and sales. Although the biggest driving force remains the artist.
Their artwork is a way to share their creative thoughts with a world convinced and restricted to their homes. The artist has pushed the boundaries of the conventional to re-imagine what it takes to be a successful artist in the modern era.
Online business and sales are helping hundreds of artists like Zaicikas keep their line of work alive and successful. Without the artist, humanity will have no real connection with the abstract visual representation of our world. The internet has become a source of big business for many people. Artists are quickly finding new hope in a once foreign platform that has for long disconnected human and art.
For more information about the visual artist Tadas Zaicikas, visit his YouTube channel and various social media platforms.
