The internet is ultimately a “whatever you want” delivery machine. While the world is bathing recklessly in its glory, the creative mind is using it as a vehicle to reach millions of eager eyes across the globe.
As a marketing tool, the internet pushed the speed of transmission of information and data to an unprecedented level. In the past, not-so-famous artists had to struggle to reach the interested audience who might end up buying their artworks. Even showcasing their works had been a monumental challenge.
Today, the buying and selling platforms are at our fingertips — be it a story, product, or an ideology! Moreover, art, today, is actually magnified into various forms and products . The reach is wide due to the gigantic prowess of the internet.
But all said and done, ultimately it depends on the way one presents oneself to the art-lovers as a visual artist so that the market perception of one's art and credibility grows resilient enough to survive the vagaries and whims of the contemporary times. Finally, it’s the survival of the fittest.
It’s a sad truth that an average artist has to endure an enormous amount of odds before being able to establish herself in the middle of this mayhem.
The distinction between the expectations of virtual and actual world is very wide.
For most artists, it proves extremely difficult to earn a living out of their artworks. Of course, there are exceptions, but hardly few. This lack of sufficient financial return for artistic endeavor is the dark reality hidden in the guts of the contemporary art world.
Recently an artist of considerable renown who has exhibited internationally and at major contemporary art spaces said that she made ‘almost no money’ from her work . She complained, ‘I wish I could dedicate myself full-time to art but it is becoming increasingly difficult. I want to spend more time in the studio. But keeping my painting schedule intact while holding my finances afloat makes me physically sick on many occasions.’
The story is the same everywhere. Even if their works are featured in international exhibitions and art biennials yet they struggle to make their ends meet. The only option for an artist is to take up an alternate job. The government supports only a privileged few, while the rest are left pondering how to survive in tough situations like the pandemic and its aftermath.
If there is no permanent support system, social pressure will strangle creativity and in most cases, cause its extinction. While there is no dearth of creative interests or facilities to enhance the skills, the financial burden and the expenses to create artworks make it an uphill task to stick to the passion. Hence quantity exceeds quality in the world of art today. The market is crowded with cheaper varieties of copy-work or alternate versions like print and so on. But for the striving artists , it is an endless pursuit of novelty no matter what.
Paintings by Priya Yabaluri can be seen in the following link https://www.romartika.com/Romartika/paintings-gallery?artist_name=Priya+Yabaluri
Sadly, this is the truth. Artists are those people who help differentiate humanity from animals or any product of artificial intelligence. They are vehicles for human imagination and probably what qualify us as a distinctly different set of species with a conscience and a sense of consciousness. The value that artists bring to the world is unbounded and exponential. Unfortunately, they are not aptly rewarded. A very unhappy truth, well put.