Instagram can be, as it turned out, a facilitator of new ideas in business and help them grow. Avant Arte is a great testament to that. This initiative has the mission to promote accessible art and to bring great art to every person around the globe. Let me introduce you to this business idea called Avant Arte.
From Jay-Z to Avant Arte
Back in 2015, two dutch guys Curtis Penning and Christian Luiten launched an Instagram-account called Avant Arte about modern art. Although they didn’t know much of art themselves, they loved hiphop. And because of Jay-Z rapping about Rothko, Warhol and Koons in his song Picasso Baby, they started to pay attention to these names and their works.
Obviously, these artworks were way too expensive to buy themselves, so they started to pay attention to “the Picasso’s of this generation” by searching for them and sharing it on their social media account. Then, Avant Arte was born and started to function as a digital outlet for their personal journey in the world of arts. I like the platform since it has no pretentious captions, it is accessible for everyone and it is just about the joy of an artwork.
Quickly after that, the platform gained a large following and created a international community of art lovers. The main reason for that is among many due to the way they make art less intimidating and more accessible. In the article What is “Accessible Art”?, writer James Ardis explains why accessible art is important. In the interview the boys explain themselves as follows, “we make art more accessible for everyone and give great artists the exposure they deserve.”
As a result, Avant Arte is comprised of curators, designers, and developers. They are working on online and offline initiatives that empower the new art collector and help artists to reach the right audience.
Some of their pickings
International media reports refer to Avant Arte as “one of the most influential online art blogs.” If you want to explore their platform, go here. Below you can already find some of their pickings.
Business model
The platform got noticed by knowledgeable contemporary art specialists like Brett Gorvy, Simon de Pury and Serpentine Gallery director Hans Ulrich Obrist. According to these specialists, this business idea is unique in itself because Avant Arte fills the gap between IKEA-posters and expensive Picasso’s by selling limited editions of the work of famous artists.
Not only that, what makes Avant Arte young, dynamic and different from any other art gallery is that they use social media as their platform. Because of that they reach younger but interested people that are often new to art. That online presence and young audience of art lovers makes Avant Arte attractive to existing galleries who are excited to work with them.
Taste
Avant Arte found a way to create an audience based on their taste for art. That taste is remarkable for them and has become characteristic for their brand. It’s why people like to check them instead of the competition.
Becoming remarkable as a brand based on taste, is something that happens much more often. Let’s have a closer look at actor and activist Leonardo DiCaprio, for example. When thinking about the type of roles he played and the type of movies he accepted, he shows people a certain taste in cinema. That taste is helpful for people. It helps them with what they can expect when they watch a film with him in it and it furthers making a decision of the kind of movie they probably are going to watch.
So taste is a way to do things differently in business and especially for artists. But there is more that makes Avant Arte a special concept. As mentioned, the way Avant Arte uses social media is a totally new and inventive way of doing business in the world of art. Using social media, they are able to give exposure to some artists and bring their art works to a new, very young audience that uses social media.
Conclusion
In doing that, they help solve the accessibility problem that is so characteristic of this sector. They are able to engage an audience that has an interest in art and would like to get inspired by new artists, but who otherwise would not have come into contact with it. In this way Avant Arte is a great and inventive, but simple sollution to an existing problem. It challenges the art world by doing things differently.
Let me know in the section below what you think of this company that now makes multi-millions of dollars. And what do you think of their taste?
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