Instead of touring in museums or strolling along the streets of New York, London, or Paris, users can now discover great artists through the Web.
Artspace, an online art dealer, launched a four-week art contest on the social network and blogging site Tumblr. The competition prompts artists to not only post an eye-catching art, but to encourage their followers to like their works, as well. It appears that talent is not enough, as social networking will also count.
Next Artspace Artist on Tumblr
Participating artists are required to upload their entries on Tumblr using the hashtag #NEXTArtspaceArtist. Each week, three semifinalists are selected based on the number of times that the entry was reblogged, liked, shared on other social media sites, or emailed to a friend.
To enter this contest, all you need to do is submit an example of your art (in JPG form) here along with a brief artist statement (300 words), a link to your online portfolio (or Tumblr), and your contact information. After you’ve submitted, we will notify you by email if you have been chosen as a featured contender.
The top 12 contestants will have a face off in another competition with the same mechanics, which will decrease the number of entries to top three. From there, the winner will be chosen by a group of professionals. These includes BAMart Curator Dave Harper, Eleven Rivington Director Augusto Arbizo, and Hyperallergic Editor Hrag Vartanian.
During the first week of the contest, it appears that photography is the favorite medium in Tumblr. This is because the winners chosen were images showing a mountain of abandoned books, jumping dog, and a woman’s sneering face. The second week of the contest has just started, and users can cast their votes at the Next Artspace Artist’s page on Tumblr.
More About Artspace
Artspace is one of the several sites that sell artworks online. Their goal is to bring art to millions of Internet users all over the world. The online art dealer provides a large selection of photography and prints with prices that are accessible to first-time buyers. In addition, Artspace Co-founder Catherine Levene said in an interview with Tumblr:
We are the only website where you can put your credit card in and buy a work from world-renowned artists of this caliber from across the globe.
However, interested buyers might need to have a black card from American Express, as the online art dealer has a selection of original works with prices starting at $500,000. In fact, a piece by Cy Twombly, an artist famous for his large scale graffiti-like artworks, is available at $2.5 million.