TRANSCRIPT:
SECHER 1 The Clio Art Fair is in an industrial building on West 26th st, just under the high line. And it opened this morning.
SOUND: At first glance you see the head of a person
SECHER 1 Rochana Dubey is one of forty artists in the fair and has three pieces in the show. She is talking about one of her paintings – it depicts a person’s head with a number of planets going into it. If it sells for 1500 dollars – she’d make nearly all of that
DUBEY I have been an entrepreneur through my life and to be in control of what i make, of what i design, is very important
SECHER 2 But that would be different if she was being represented by a gallery. Most galleries take about 50-60 percent. That’s why Italian gallery owner Alessandro Berni set up this show three years ago. He recognizes that artists can do a lot on their own.
BERNI: There are some artists that are able to conquer museums, find costumer and venue space to show without a gallery
SECHER 3 The reason: the INTERNET. Alan Bamberger is an art consultant, he says artists have more opportunities than ever to market themselves online
BAMBERGER 1 To get themselves out there, to make a case for their work to advocate on their own behalfs. Galleries for many artists make less and less sense.
SECHER 4 And the internet has been threatening the galleries for a long time.
BAMBERGER 2 It is a concern, particularly that artists can sell online simultaneously with shows at galleries so one of the main issues that galleries have with artists is the trust factor
SECHER 5 Trust is hard to win back. But still, being represented by a gallery can open doors that are otherwise closed for independent artists. That’s why painter Rochana Dubey would be open to consider a gallery partnership down the road
DUBEY 2 Galleries have the connection to serious collectors who enjoy art, who would buy. At the end of the day, art is a business, I am here to be able to make a living on my art.
SECHER 6 Something she is not able to do at this point.
Andrea Goldsmith, another of the fair’s artists, WOULD also like to be represented by a gallery but hasn’t been able to make it happen yet. She says the effort of marketing herself takes too much time and energy away from making her art.
GOLDSMITH 1: When I think about marketing I think less about painting and when I think about painting I think less about wanting to market.
SECHER 7 The Clio Art Fair is open all weekend on West 26th st. Åsa Secher Columbia Radio News
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