Would Picasso have sold online?

The Web is shaking up the art world. But some see it as selling out.

By Joanne Latimer

The article was originally filed in Arts+Culture, Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Read the entire article online at Macleans.ca

There’s an art to cyberspace

Circuit Gallery exists only online, specializing in affordable works from a stable of artists

By Peter Goddard
Visual Arts Reporter

The article was originally filed on November 19, 2009.

Derek Flack has written a good article about Circuit Gallery for BlogTO. We are grateful for the attention and excited that people are “getting” the concept – which is all about making interesting, quality, contemporary art more accessible by making it more affordable!

I am re-posting his article below, which was originally filed on November 21, 2009 under Arts.

Circuit Gallery is a web-based project co-founded by Claire Sykes and Susana Reisman. Modelled after Jen Bekman’s highly successful 20×200 concept, it takes advantage of the internet’s wide reach and the affordability of digital reproduction to offer editions of contemporary art at wonderfully low prices.

Here’s how it works: the art sold through the gallery comes in standard sizes – like 8×10, 11×14, and 16×20 – and in limited but large editions (usually around 500). These two factors are then taken into consideration in determining the price of each piece. The smaller the size and the larger the edition, the less expensive the work is – and, of course, vice versa.

Circuit Gallery's recent exhibition at the Department. Photo credit: Derek Flack

I’ve been waiting for something like this for a while. Despite the fact that there are numerous online galleries that have popped up over the last couple of years, very few offer art of this high a quality at this low a price. As an art lover who’s yet to hit the pay dirt, I used to bemoan the fact that purchasing “real” art just wasn’t an option for me. Although there’s loads of art that can be viewed online, the majority of it is either crappy and amateuristic or, if the work of an established artist, exorbitantly priced.

And yet it’s about time that high quality virtual galleries take root. The recent arrival of Amazon’s Kindle to Canada is a timely reminder of the digital paradigm shift that’s taken place over the last half decade or so. With the rise of new technologies and the electronic dissemination of information, the materiality of our music and books has become less and less significant.

Artwork: Susana Reisman. Photo Credit: Derek Flack

For reasons that are not altogether surprising, the fine art industry, on the other hand, has been slow to react to these changes. Traditionally speaking, the artistic object acquires its value based on two related qualities: originality and rarity, or what the German philosopher and literary critic Walter Benjamin refers to as the aura of the work.

For Benjamin, the rise of mechanical reproduction (which could be traced as far back as the printing press, but really took hold with the invention of photography) had the double effect of solidifying and threatening the aura. In cases where an original and its reproduction are different (like a painting and a print of the painting), the reproductions tend to increase the prestige and authenticity of the original. But with art forms like photography (and virtually all digital media), where no material difference exists between each edition or print, the aura of the work is either eliminated or forcibly constructed through the limitation of the edition.

Artwork: Bill Finger. Photo Credit: Derek Flack

The plurality and equality of the works produced in an edition thus has political as well as artistic importance. The aura of artwork has always been associated with a certain cultural and financial elitism, both of which are disrupted by the availability and affordability of reproductions. Being academically trained (both have graduate degrees), Sykes and Reisman know their Benjamin. So they also know that a work’s aura must be delicately managed.

As affordable as one might want to make artwork, the limitless reproduction of a work ensures that it will retain very little value and, as such, desirability. So the key is to find the right limit for each edition. And I think Circuit’s hit the nail on the head in this department. Editions of 500 may be higher than the successful 20×200 model, but this also ensures that popular work doesn’t sell out too quickly. There’s also what they call a “variable option,” in which artists can offer their work in custom sizes with lower edition numbers and commensurate pricing.

Artwork: David Grenier (left), Aki Miyoshi (right). Photo Credit: Derek Flack.

But what, one might wonder, makes Circuit a “gallery?” Isn’t it just an online art shop/store? Well, lest we forget, private galleries are also commercial enterprises. The reason we don’t often think of them primarily in this manner is that they also tend to foster appreciation of artwork even for those who have no intention or means to purchase pieces. So, Circuit’s taken steps to do this as well.

Not only do they keep up an active blog on the website featuring critical considerations of artists on their roster, they also plan on periodically coming out of the virtual world to occupy gallery spaces around the city on a temporary basis. In fact, the launch and opening reception for the gallery took place at the Department, giving those interested in the project a chance to have an in-person look at the work available via the website (and me a chance to take some photos for this post!).

Circuit has also joined forces with Alphabet City, an annual anthology that addresses issues of global concern organized around a single word (this year it’s “water”), to offer print editions of works that appear in the small-sized collection. Currently on offer via this collaboration are pieces by Eamon MacMahon, Stefan Petranek, Meredith Carruthers and Susannah Wesley.

Although it remains to be seen if the concept of the virtual gallery will really take off in Toronto (and Canada), experiments south of the border and the quality work on offer at Circuit certainly suggests it’s a viable business and artistic model. With prices that start at $30 (for an 8×10), there’s little reason for art enthusiasts to resist starting or increasing their collections.

See the article as it originally appeared on November 21, 2009 in BlogTO.

by Kathy Lindsley — RIT University News

This photo, ‘After Hitchcock’ by Bill Finger ’05, is one of the images offered by the new Circuit Gallery Web site.

New Internet gallery connects artists and art lovers
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

Finding a market for their work is a perpetual challenge for artists. Yet ironically, many potential customers don’t know where to find high quality artwork.

Susana Reisman ’05 (master’s, fine arts) and her business partner, University of Rochester graduate Claire Sykes, have turned to the Internet for a solution to both of these problems. The two have developed Circuit Gallery, an online enterprise offering limited editions of contemporary photographic, digital and print-based works on paper.

“Our primary goal is to make interesting, significant, quality, contemporary art more accessible by making it more affordable,” Reisman says. “We want to make collecting or buying art an activity more people can actually participate in, rather than a privilege that only a few can afford.”

Unlike traditional galleries, which sell limited editions at higher prices, Circuit Gallery keeps prices down by offering larger editions. Reisman and Sykes, who both live in Toronto, believe this concept makes perfect sense in the world of digital art, where the difference between “original” and “reproduction” has ceased to exist.

“This is the case with so much of contemporary art these days, and especially photography,” says Reisman. “The turn to the digital, along with incredible technological advances in printing methods and papers, has in many ways forced a consideration or questioning of ‘value’ and made our model a logical response.”

Circuit Gallery currently features the work of a dozen artists, some of whom are just starting out while others have international reputations. Among the 12 are five RIT photography grads: Stefan Petranek ’06, Akihiko Miyoshi ’05, Bill Finger ’05, Reisman and Dan Larkin ’83, chair of the fine arts photography program in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences.

The partners expect the gallery to grow. They plan to add new artists on a regular basis and are always on the lookout for new and exciting work. They are also developing projects and exhibitions for “physical” gallery spaces in Toronto and elsewhere.

The Circuit Gallery Web site has been live since December 2008 and Reisman says they’ve been delighted with the response so far.

“Although we haven’t advertised, we’ve been receiving excellent traffic, decent sales and really positive feedback,” says Reisman. “It is remarkable how far and fast good ideas and content can spread, due to the ‘viral’ nature of the Web.”

This article originally appeared in the RIT University News magazine on April 13, 2009. See the original article.