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“Opening on Monday February 27th at 6pm, Red will be another gathering of pro-active artists and another exercise in artist-led cross-pollination.  This time we Cultivate on line, sometimes we do it in formal galleries, or in warehouses or at dog shows or under railway bridges or in car parks at the seaside, this time we do it online. A group show featuring the art of 20 selected artists, selected via an on-line open call. Red goes live at 6pm (UK time) on Monday 27th February at www.cultivategallery.com and www.organthing.com.

Opening on Monday evening, Red will run on-line until, well until who knows when, maybe forever? Red will feature the work of 20 selected artists. Submissions were via an open call via www.cultivategallery.com (no one was charged to submit an e.mail images, we are very much against the cynical notion of charging artists a fee just to submit an e.mail and an image to to an open call show)  The show will go live on line on the Organ website and on the Cultivate website on February 27th and will run until the world ends (or we do).

The work will be of a red nature, the colour will hopefully unite the show, we’re exploring the submissions now, this is very much an experiment, submissions are being accepted up until midnight on Sunday. More details about the open call via www.cultivategallery.com

“I’m still not sure how I feel about the notions of art on-line (I avoided instagram for ages and ages), but then that’s why we’re experimenting with it and debating it here at Cultivate. I look at the numbers of people around the world who view the features on gallery openings and exhibitions via both the Cultivate website and in much bigger numbers via the busy Organ website – for instance over eight thousand people viewed the photos (and words) from the Kembra Pfahler show at Emalin Gallery in East London when the images (and words) were posted on the Organ website.  Eight thousand viewers during the week the review went live on the Organ website back at the end of last year.  I very much doubt if anywhere near a thousand people actually physically went to the show when it was on.  My own art website has already been visited by people from New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Singapore, USA and more this morning, nobody living in Singapore can see my art on an East London gallery wall unless they look at photos of the show on-line.

On-line art can never be a substitute for seeing most people’s art in the flesh on a gallery wall (or a street wall, or hanging in a tree, or…), there is no substitute for seeing art right there in front of you living and breathing, right there in the flesh, alive, the texture, the size, the smell – however as artists, we surely can’t ignore the fact that most people see out art via computer screens can we? This surely has to be embraced doesn’t it? Surely we have to experiment with it? And so Red will open on-line next Monday on both the Cultivate and Organ websites, come and see if the experiment works”. (SW)

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