Added by Zev Eisenberg on June 21 2011, at 8:31 pm
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Tucked in the neighborhood boundaries of Chelsea, Manhattan exists a land of white-boxed rooms separated from the mere reaches of dodgy gay bars and high street “American Apparel-like” boutiques. Exploring the buildings west of 9th Avenue can be daunting, not because of dangers lurking around the corners but arising more harshly from the cold stares and ignoring back-turns of the art gallery community. Unwanted airs that pollute this world derail budding collectors from beginning on what should be an exciting journey. An everyday visitor desiring to feed off the masterpieces of modern geniuses like de Kooning and his peers may soon flock back home to safely view the works in books. Or, more modernly, online - which is where the arts are thriving and finding a peaceful profitable realm to exist away from the elitist’s eyes.
The virtual galleries emerged amongst other online ventures over the past decade, bridging intimidated enthusiast with local talents while helping to discover unknown artists and expand private collections. With the rise of online art, the collector had a direct route to artist, without having to go through a middleman. This dismantled the wall of division, where snobbish gallery masters were wiped clean by the World Wide Web. But missing during the quick sell-and-buy exchange was a communal sense of encouragement. The only support for the online artist was fiscal. To many artists this may not even be an issue, as they simply want to profit from their work (it seems the title of starving artist has outgrown its appeal). But with this attitude comes an important loss. The arts have long been a place of togetherness, with romanticized craftsman sharing ideas amongst themselves and delivering works for the masses to appreciate. The now competitive art market has shadowed a place of community, with the arts becoming another capitalist venture – more business brains than honest hearts.
Reasonably, the arts as a business is quite sensible, evident with the rise of galleries in the later part of the twentieth century. There is profit to be made between dealers, collectors and the artists, giving unimaginable value to objects that may cost more than the house they reside in. There is also pure survival here for all involved. However, what might be the nature of business is not the nature of a true artist. There has to be a medium where a sense of community can exists in a bureaucratic machine. As social media has anchored itself as the newest leader of unity, it only is sensible to utilize this in creating a safe place where patrons can emotionally support one another, while trading in business. Here is where ARThood comes into play: a new home where the arts can be supported in everyway imaginable.
