John Eimerman On The Digitization Of The Art World

By Author: John Eimerman
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Is there a new wave approaching? In a January 2011 interview, The Naples International Art Festival co-founder, John Eimerman, was interviewed. This is a brand new way of looking at the traditional art fair.

In this setting, an art dealer sets up an online booth, and is expected to have it staffed for 18 hours a day, to accommodate the time zones. A prospective client can browse from page to page (i.e. booth to booth) and look at the art, which has been arranged to detail size and other pertinent aspects.

The art fair world has always been very separate according to John Eimerman. There are art fairs and festivals, and then there are art showingsand fancy galleries, in major cities across the globe. In this new concept of VIP, which stands for viewing in private, clients are able to see pieces that have before been a long plane ride away. Galleries in Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, Paris and Rome, Namibia and Ghana are able to tap into a weeklong event, spread through social media, and connect with potential buyers.

These events may be ushering in a new way for artists, art ...
... purveyors, and art consumers to connect. Because a client can look, research, ask questions, maybe do some more research, and finally ask for a meeting, either by Skype or phone, they are able to be more educated about their purchase. This type of event allows the art consumer to be exposed to the art, but then step back to evaluate.

In the tradition showing in an art gallery, as with the tradition art festival, it tends to be the one stop shop, and the venue for self-promotion, versus creating a relationship and an interaction with a client. Although in this case the art is high end and from some well known artists, the concept can easily jump to the summertime art festival, notes John Eimerman.

In the way that the reading experience has jumped from book-in-hand to Kindle or Nook, so too can the neighborhood or city art fair go online. After all, one doesn't necessarily have to be holding a blue ceramic bowl to know they like it, just as one can read the latest Robert Patterson or Stuart Woods novel on an e-reader. Sites like Etsy and ideeli have popped up in recent years as clearing houses for artists to sell their wares, but this concept can be taken one step further, and by creating an online fair the artists can exclusive-ize their pieces.

While there will always be a need and market for the gallery showings, and the hands on experience for walking through an art festival in a park, artists will do themselves no harm by embracing this newest late-comer to the party. Going online may be the future for everyone.

John Eimerman, a Wisconsin native from Milwaukee, is the co-founder of the Naples International Art Festival, one of the nations premier events. John Eimerman Wisconsin currently resides in Naples, Florida.