Christie’s along with the art-social media website ArtStack have formed a unique alliance this season with the first crowd-sourced auction initiative. The aim is to give emerging artists chosen by the public the opportunity to be included in an auction, using new technologies and influenced by the current trend for crowd sourcing.
From Tuesday 20 January – Sunday 1 February, artists can submit their work via theArtStack.com for an online competition and the public can vote for their favourite artists. The most popular works of art will be included in the forthcoming First Open/LDN auction at 1pm on Thursday 26 March at Christie’s South Kensington, with 25% of the proceeds to be donated to the Whitechapel Gallery in London.
The works will be selected based upon their ‘stack’ (vote) count and reviewed for submission by a high-profile panel of art world, fashion and media figures who will select around 10 works for inclusion in the auction, including: Bianca Chu, Head of First Open/LDN, Christie’s; Omar Kholeif, Curator at Whitechapel Gallery, London; James Lindon, Co-Founder of ArtStack; Penny Martin, Editor in Chief of The Gentlewoman magazine; Sarah McCrory, Director of Glasgow International; Dan Stevens, Actor and Booker Prize Judge.
Launched in September 2014 as part of Christie’s new Global First Open sales, First Open/LDN aims to offer the best of cutting-edge contemporary art as well as high quality post-war artworks at affordable price points. There is something for everyone in the First Open/LDN sale, from first time buyers to established collectors. The second edition of this live auction will take place on Thursday 26 March at Christie’s South Kensington, with a public viewing opening on Saturday 21 March. Bianca Chu, Head of Sale, said of this new initiative: ‘In our second season as First Open/LDN, we look to continue to build the sale as the go-to place for emerging artists and trends in contemporary art. ArtStack is the perfect partner for First Open/LDN, with both platforms aiming to innovate and build communities around sharing and exploring new art. We are thrilled to announce this unique and not-to-be-missed opportunity to participate in the auction world.’
ArtStack is the world’s first art social media platform and the largest user generated content archive of art, with over 500,000 artworks from antiquity to today. ArtStack is free and makes it easy to discover, collect, and share art you like by enabling you to find exciting new works through friends and other art lovers – and to explore the taste of well-known curators, artists, gallerists and collectors who share their inspiration on the site. The premier art community in the world, anyone can post art on ArtStack and share the art they love. ArtStack won the Investor Allstars’ Digital Innovation in Art award in 2014 and has hundreds of thousands of users on their website and highly-rated free apps for iPhone, iPad and Android in 200 countries. James Lindon, co-founder of ArtStack was particularly inspired to collaborate with Christie’s First Open/LDN, saying, “Some great artists have had huge career breakthroughs as a result of being discovered on ArtStack and this gives our phenomenal community an opportunity to participate in the creation of new art stars in a
The Whitechapel Gallery is the artists’ gallery for everyone. For over a century the Whitechapel Gallery has premiered world-class artists from modern masters such asPablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock,Mark RothkoandFrida Kahloto contemporaries such as Sophie Calle, Paul Noble, Thomas Struth, Sarah Lucas and Mark Wallinger. With beautiful galleries, exhibitions, artist commissions, collection displays, historic archives, education resources, inspiring art courses, dining room and bookshop, the Gallery is open all year round, so there is always something free to see. The Gallery is a touchstone for contemporary art internationally, plays a central role in London’s cultural landscape and is pivotal to the continued growth of the world’s most vibrant contemporary art quarter.
Artists and the public can visit here