Elite Traveler January-February 2017

INFLUENCE ART COLUMN

elite traveler JAN/FEB 2017 59

Peter Chater on appreciating art The rise in technologycan be a force for good in the art world, enabling us to view exhibitions and artworks at our own convenience, even if they are on another continent. Peter Chater explains how the benefits of being tech savvy apply to galleries, artists and collectors

London, the British Museum was one of the first institutions to exploit such digital innovation, inviting visitors to experience the Bronze Age through virtual treasures and projected environments. More recently the Smithsonian American Art Museum released the ‘Wonder 360’ app, allowing users to revisit this blockbuster exhibition in the digital realm. We have also seen a seismic shift in focus towards mobile devices. Disguised in sleek, stylish packaging, it is easy to forget that our phones are small computers. However it is their intuitive user interface design that has allowed even the most technophobic individuals to embrace them. The immediacy of image first apps, such as Instagram, and their ability to reach new audiences have been a transformative tool for the art market. Apart from following galleries, Instagram also offers an exclusive, personal view into the studio practice of an artist. In 2015 a survey of collectors using Instagram indicated that over 50 percent purchased works from artists they discovered on the app. Moreover, the use of apps, such as PrivateViews, affords galleries and collectors the ability to present and share their entire collection offline in a fluid and beautifully presented manner. For a gallery, being able to send a group of artworks to a collector within seconds from an iPhone or iPad has created a market structure centered functions on a substantial and diverse cohort of collectors. Large galleries now operate around the world with spaces in multiple countries. The market is more global and competitive with a vastly increased number of galleries, auction houses and art fairs. It is pioneering technology – such as online sales platforms, mobile devices and social media – which has played such a significant role in supporting this expansion, and has lead the art world into new and ground-breaking arenas. Peter Chater is founding director of international art technology company Artlogic, artlogic.net on immediacy and convenience. The contemporary art market

“You can now swipe through your next art purchases as easily as you scroll through options for dinner”

Over the last 20 years the art world has undergone a revolution. Technology has transformed the way we enjoy, collect and sell art, providing unparalleled access to new markets, artists and artworks. To those looking to see and experience art from across the globe, particularly with the view to acquiring it, there has never been a more opportune time to do so. Back in 1989 I joined one of the first commercial art galleries in London to show many of Damien Hirst’s contemporaries from his seminal Freeze exhibition – a group of artists who now belong to a club of superstars known for fetching millions at auction. At the time, the entire art world ran on typewriters; the gallery kept row upon row of black box files, the contents of which contained the keys to running a contemporary art gallery – that seems at odds with the quality of art on sale. This has now all been replaced by technology – an integral asset in the art market. The increased importance and continued growth in international art fairs – as well as international travel in general – means that streamlined and

efficient technology is vital to both the globetrotting gallerist and worldwide collector. You can now swipe through your next art purchases as easily as you scroll through options for dinner. Last year, online purchasing was one of the few areas of the art market that experienced significant growth, expanding by seven percent to reach a total of $4.7 billion in sales. Familiarity with online market places has helped fuel this expansion. At the click of a button platforms such as Paddle8, 1stdibs, Artsy, Artspace and Invaluable give collectors the ability to invest in new artists – who might otherwise remain undiscovered. The growth in these sectors suggests online sales may actually be attracting a host of new collectors, despite reservations by some that the market is cooling down. In an age when time is our greatest luxury, technology now allows us to be in more than one place at a time. As technology advances, virtual reality and augmented reality exhibitions may become more commonplace – enabling visitors to explore and experience a show from anywhere in the world. In

Photo: Luke Andrew Walker, courtesy of Artlogic