'The art equivalent of YouTube', Jonathan Jones, Guardian
London, UK - On 22 April 2009, the Saatchi Gallery and Clear Channel Outdoor launched a national outdoor poster campaign across the UK to help artists and people interested in buying art during the financial recession. Saatchi Online provides a free global platform for artists to show their work to an international audience and to sell it to collectors without the usual 50% commission taken by galleries.
It has always been very difficult for artists to have their work seen by potential collectors. Dealers are often too busy to look at new artists work and often rely on their own stable of artists to introduce new ones to their gallery. This has made it difficult for unknown artists not in the right social mix to get any attention.
CNN 06-05-2009
Since its launch in 2006, Saatchi Online has become the leading art gallery website, and research among artists registered on the site at the end of its first year showed that approximately $130 million annual sales were being achieved by artists selling directly to collectors and dealers. Since then the site has more than doubled in size and now averages 70 million hits a day. There are currently over 120,000 artists and art students from all over the world for whom being registered on Saatchi Online provides a unique showcase.
Buyers can view works and make contact with artists via their profile pages on Saatchi Online and all artists registered on the site are able to sell work through the site with no commission charged to buyer or artist. Payment can be easily made using PayPal. It is free for all artists to have a profile page on Saatchi Online and it is free for all visitors to use and buy from the site as well.
Through its support of Saatchi Online, Clear Channel Outdoor is effectively sponsoring over 120,000 artists to sell work direct while saving collectors the normal 50% dealer commission.
After the UK launch, Saatchi Online is already looking at plans to expand the FREE THE ARTISTS campaign in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US.
"Since the birth of the internet, we have grown increasingly accustomed to acquiring things online. Many talented artists don't benefit from the necessary contacts or networking skills to develop careers as artists and are too often left out of the loop. Clear Channel's digital billboard campaign for Saatchi Online is simply stunning, playing an important role in bringing contemporary art to a wider audience and supporting artists at grass roots level. We are very proud to have Clear Channel as a Patron and thank them for helping make this campaign possible." Nigel Hurst, chief executive, Saatchi Gallery.
"The Clear Channel association with art and design goes back twenty one years to the inception of our own Student Design Awards. Many of the former entrants now work in leading advertising agencies, such as M&C Saatchi and CHI. The outdoor medium is a blank canvas for creativity, and the newest technology of digital roadside screens enhances the artistic possibilities and the speed of reaching a massive audience. We are a proud Patron of the Saatchi Gallery and expect that this striking campaign will be a great success in supporting artists and creativity." Pip Hainsworth, Marketing Director, Clear Channel Outdoor UK.
"Only the top 1,000 artists who sell at leading auctions and exhibit with leading dealers have much visibility. We hope this initiative will make the next decade easier for the great majority of world's artists." Charles Saatchi.
ABOUT CLEAR CHANNEL OUTDOOR
Clear Channel Outdoor UK is the United Kingdom's leading outdoor advertising company, providing more than 70,000 advertising opportunities across its premier brands: Clear Channel Billboards, Clear Channel Adshel and Clear Channel Pinnacle.
Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO) is the world's largest outdoor advertising company with close to one million displays in 49 countries across 5 continents.
www.clearchannel.co.uk and www.clearchanneloutdoor.com
SAATCHI ONLINE SUCCESS STORIES
Whitney McVeigh has sold over 30 paintings since registering on the site and has been invited to appear in exhibitions internationally. Before joining Saatchi Online she found it hard to sell work and is now represented by galleries in Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore. She lives in London.
Dutch artist Jaap de Vries was the 45th person to register on Saatchi Online. As a result of being on the site, he has been offered shows in the US, London, Europe, and has sold many works. He was awarded the 2008 Wim Izaks Prize (€10,000) and has been able to move to a bigger studio.
Maurizio Anzeri graduated from the Slade in London in 2006 and is not represented by a gallery. Over the last two years the majority of his income has come from works sold as a result of being on the site. He has been offered a solo show at Riflemaker in London in April 2009.
Robin Cracknell is a London-based artist who was offered a solo show at the Whitecross Gallery, London, after director Francesco Petillo saw his work on Saatchi Online.
Hannah Bureau graduated in 2008 with an MFA in Painting from Massachusetts College of Art. Through Saatchi Online she has sold over 25 works to collectors such as Beth Rudin DeWoody.
Many others success stories can be seen on Saatchi Online at www.saatchi-gallery.com/success_stories.
ARTISTS' COMMENTS ON SAATCHI ONLINE
'It's innovative ideas like Saatchi Online which will bring on new waves and changes in art. This type of innovation will always produce new, exciting things.' Grayson Perry, Turner Prize Winner 2003
'When I was a student we would never have dreamt of having something like this. It's brilliant for students to show their work and see what is going on with other students worldwide.' Paula Rego
'Young people want their work to be seen. In the art world, doors get shut in your face all the time. Saatchi is tapping into a spirit that's rebelling against that. To me, it's an honour to be up there with all sorts of people, from a 90-year-old grandmother to a student at Goldsmiths.' Stella Vine
OTHER FEATURES ON SAATCHI ONLINE
Showdown invites registered artists to enter their work in a head to head competition for visitor votes, with an overall winner selected every few months. Since the launch of Showdown in March 2007, 151,091 works have been entered and Showdown receives an average of 2.2 million votes each week. Works by Showdown winners are displayed at the Saatchi Gallery.
Museums Around the World has enabled 3,000 institutions including MoMA New York, Tate UK, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, the Louvre Paris, British Museum, National Gallery, the Guggenheim and other major museums to display their collection highlights and exhibition details.
Art Colleges Around the World has enabled over 3,000 universities, visual arts, performing arts, fashion and design colleges including Yale, Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge universities to display their prospectuses, student information and student art works.
Art Dealers and Galleries Around the World has enabled over 5,000 commercial galleries to create their own profiles. The presence of so many dealers on the site has proved helpful to Saatchi Online artists whose work is now being seen by gallery globally.
Saatchi Online Magazine and TV publishes leading critics such as Jerry Saltz and Mathew Collings, as well as the latest news, exhibition previews and reviews, party pictures, videos of art openings and video interviews, alongside videos and blogs uploaded by visitors to the site.
Saatchi Online at Art Fairs has exhibited 90 artists registered on the site at some of the most vibrant international art fairs, including Zoo London, Pulse New York, Scope Basel and Scope London. At these fairs, where Saatchi Online artists have had the chance to show their work alongside artists represented by well-known commercial galleries, over 100 works have been sold free of commission to buyers worth approximately over $250,000. Many of the artists shown have gone on to sell more works and even build up waiting lists. For more information about Saatchi Online at art fairs click here.
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