Raymond Luk and Julian Haber: Art for everyone photo: Julian Haber

While galleries and formal art education and criticism create a strong foundation for artists and their work to survive and thrive, they also create a perception that art exists in its own world with its own vocabulary and ways of thinking. In truth, much exists as a reflection of a wider world; Art Anywhere breaks down the intimidation factor. "I've always believed in democratizing art," says Luk, who has a BFA in music from McGill. "What I care about is that it resonates with me."

Luk hired Julian Haber, who has an artistic as well as a business background, as CEO. In fact, one of the first pieces Luk bought was one of Haber's photographs. As founder of Flow Ventures, a start-up incubator that helps promising tech-oriented entrepreneurs build their businesses, Luk saw Art Anywhere as a business opportunity whose time had come and as a way to get art onto walls, where it would be appreciated by enthusiastic new patrons and artists could make some money in the process.

Art Anywhere began online six months ago with local creators submitting their work to a web-based gallery that businesses could browse. But Luk and Haber realized that for people to really connect with the works, they need the real thing right in front of them. So they created PopUp! Galleries, where, for a $99 administrative fee, pieces are installed for a few months in once-drab office spaces.

Artists apply to show in whatever spaces they wish and sell what they want to sell (Art Anywhere receives a 25 percent commission fee - lower than most galleries), and businesses become the curators of their own collection.

"We didn't want to start a non-profit," explains Luk. "There's one metric that matters here: How much money can we make for artists? How can we help them make an honest living?" Luk and Haber help artists set prices for their work and talk to businesses about how to bring inspiring art to their work spaces. "For me it makes sense that art is inside a business - you've got a lot of creative people and often boring design and empty walls, and an audience who might not go to galleries. Art and business are both creative. We're trying to match two things together to create something beautiful."
 
 

		Write your comment on this article!

I all for it     I really liked this article and concur with the proponents of Art Anywhere: artists need to have more outlets for their work than the traditional galleries, and they need to be paid fairly for the service they provide, or art will simply begin to fade, or become genericized, as fewer creative young people pursue it as a viable career. Conversely, business owners, and especially small business owners, need to be able to connect directly with artists, in order to actually be able to afford to beautify their spaces without shopping at IKEA - and without the standard rapacious gauging from the established art distribution community. Art for the People now!
Damian Haber		March 26th, 2010

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