The changing face of buying art – and why collaborations are the future
It’s a scene many of us may be familiar with; a new exhibition opens in a large East London loft, and sharply dressed individuals are perusing the large canvases hanging on walls. Glasses of champagne are held aloft as superlatives fly from their lips. Hands are shaken, deals are done, and someone goes home with a unique and desirable piece destined to take pride of place as the centrepiece of a room.
However, scenes like this, or of the uber-rich raising paddles to make bids in ornately decorated auction houses, may start to become relics from the past. The way we buy, and engage with, art is starting to change, with trailblazers leading the way in making the realm become accessible for a wider audience.
As with so many things, it was the pandemic that served as the catalyst of change in our approach to buying art; the ongoing lockdowns meant that seeing desired pieces in person was no longer an option. The 2023 Hiscox art report found that around 78 per cent of people opted to buy artwork they saw online in 2022, a considerable jump compared to pre-pandemic levels (only 44 per cent of buyers turned to the internet for art purchases in 2019). There may have been previous distrust of buying pieces online, but extraordinary service provided by well-regarded outlets has paved the way for more traditional buyers to consider different purchasing options (the Hiscox art survey found more than half of art buyers said that their confidence and interest in buying art online had increased during the pandemic).
This is certainly the case for Rise Art, an online gallery founded in 2011 by Scott Phillips. Disruptors of the industry, the company works with established artists as well as rising stars on the scene, and aims to make finding good art that you love “fun again”.
“I wanted to help make art a little bit more engaging through collaborations and great storytelling,” Phillips tells Harper’s Bazaar. “We’ve had a lot of success bringing the artwork outside of galleries.”
What has made Rise Art so successful perhaps compared to others is its ability to provide the traditional markers of buying art that are not typically available online, fusing what the old guard expect from finding pieces to collect, with new means through which they can find them.
“An online platform is just another tool for collectors to use to enrich their experience when buying art,” Phillips explains. “But we couple that with traditional art expertise and advice. Technology for us is like something that enables people and helps break down the barriers, especially for new collectors.
“But I also think it’s about authenticity. We pride ourselves on curating really incredible artists and sharing them with our collectors, and whether they're artists that you know about or new artists that you probably haven't heard of, there's a reason why they're all on the site. I think for most people, when they look at art and these experiences, they want to see new perspectives.”
In one of Rise Art’s newest and most sought-after collaborations, the online retailer paired up with Soho Home earlier this year in an exhibition titled Dwellings, using a selection of artists to explore what home environment means to them. The collaboration, which can be seen in numerous showrooms across London, aims to help those looking to style their interiors in a similar fashion to the well-curated Soho House clubs.
“Soho Home began with members wanting to recreate the look of the houses, and with every house’s art collection playing such a key role in the house design,” Gareth Lewis, chief creative officer for Soho Home, explains. “We are thrilled to team up with Rise Art to help our members and customers curate their own collection.
“Our first exhibition, Dwellings, shown in our studios and online is themed around the duality of home being not just a physical place to be comfortable in, but also its role as an emotional landscape. This reflects Soho Home’s goal to inspire personal and artistic expression, and bringing the charm of Soho House into our members and customers living spaces.
“Our members and customers value the expert advice they can get from our team, and we’re pleased to enhance the interior design experience that they’ll receive, which will now extend to include art recommendations from the collection.”
The partnership saw Rise Art feature long-term collaborators with Soho Home, as well as other rising stars; among those featured include the abstract collagist Tanya Angelova, the textile artist Milena Paladino, and the sculptor Bruce McLean.
“It’s really exciting,” says Phillips. “These sorts of collaborations encourage engagement with the work in a way that a traditional gallery setting may not.
“Rise Art did a survey a number of years ago that showed only one in six adults had ever set foot into a gallery. I think that if you can find ways of showcasing art in a manner where people feel comfortable and familiar, they’re more likely to engage with it.
“It’s about thinking, ‘How do we make something with the user and the artists feel like there's a connection there?’”
This need for a genuine connection will become all the more vital in the future, Phillips theorises. Creative roles are expected to be considerably affected as AI becomes increasingly more commonplace; the Creative Industries Federation warns that the UK's creative sector could lose up to 900,000 jobs by 2030 due to AI and automation.
“When AI takes this more prominent role, I believe creativity as a whole will be valued even more,” he says. “This is where collaborations become more important. People are going to value authentic touch points, experiences and connections with artists even more.”
But while there may be new means and methods to acquiring good art, Phillips stresses that curation will always be the most fundamental part of art collection. “Allowing for different means for people to engage with art, be it online, in person or through collaborations, is vital,” he explains. “Bringing art to people will always be valuable.”
You can view the Soho Home x Rise Art collaboration here.
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