Instagram vs Galleries
Has the Artist Support Pledge changed the power dynamic?
For Cognitive Sensations
The 2020 lockdowns brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic signalled a potentially disastrous year for artists around the world. As in-studio purchasing, self-selling, and retainers have fallen out of favour, galleries have monopolised the way artists earn money. So, when galleries were forced to close their doors in March 2020, panic spread throughout the artist community. ‘Within an hour it felt like the art world was coming to a close,’ states Matthew Burrows, the creator of the Artist Support Pledge, ‘I felt this wave of desperation throughout the art world. I had to do something. There was no choice in the matter, I had to act.’