Out of Buildings and Onto Screens: The Future of Artistic Expression

With the ever-growing popularity of online commerce, it is no surprise that artists have started to move away from strictly selling out of galleries and begun to market themselves on social media. Artists in this day and age have taken all aspects of showcasing their talent online, making it less expensive to succeed in a very difficult line of work. Whether it be showcasing their art on a website portfolio like Wix or Weebly, selling on e-commerce websites like Etsy, or advertising through social media platforms such as Twitter or Instagram, the new generation of artists has completely changed the way we experience art. Artwork Archive highlights some of the key changes that social media has made in the way we experience art in this article.

The question is: Is this shift helping or hurting art and artistic expression? In this article for the Los Angeles Times, journalist Carolina Marina interviews multiple artists who have noticed social media censorship preventing the artist community from being able to showcase certain art pieces, limiting what pieces people are willing to create. Artist Illma Gore expressed her concerns after her nude painting of Donald Trump caused her to be removed from Facebook. “It’s sad to me to watch it be filtered, like the news or what we see on TV,” she says. “That was the saddest part for me — that the communities we have created are quite censored as well.”

In an interview with CNBC, Australian artist Red Hong Yi discusses how social media has allowed her to become so successful in a historically economically challenging profession. Rather than "being confined to the four walls of a gallery space and have 100 people come view your work," artists are able to directly market to millions of people. Though she does worry that social media will cheapen art, she also believes that it is important to have a lot of different types of audiences. The shift of the art world to social media does have a lot of trade-offs, however as Yi pointed out, it allows people of all different economic backgrounds to enjoy beautiful works from all over the world.

As a student at a school with a very successful art program, I have many friends who have been able to profit off of their art by use of social media marketing. Two of my absolute favorites are Camden Dechert and Katy Boling. They are both incredibly talented in both art and marketing through Twitter and Instagram. To see for yourself, check out their art Instagram pages!

How do you feel about this major shift in artist culture? Do you think censorship will be harmful to artistic expression?  Do you think the opportunity for marketing to millions outweighs the issue of dropping art prices? Let me know in the comments below!