After COVID-19 shifted galleries and exhibitions to a digital space, artists and art institutions are now adjusting to a new normal
By: Anna Maria Moubayed
Art Gallery of Ontario visitors line up to enter the gallery. The AGO enhanced its virtual presence and online viewings of artwork during the pandemic. (Sean Driscoll/Unsplash)
COVID-19 left museums and art galleries with highly restricted access since the start of the pandemic. With 61 per cent of all global art fairs cancelled, the market was forced to transition to a digital platform.
“At the start of the pandemic, it was clear that artists’ opportunities were being limited,” said Laureen Marchand, the founder and general factotum of the Grassland Gallery Online.
The Grassland Gallery Online uses online showrooms to generate sales, reaching collectors who may never have had the opportunity to set foot in the Southwest Saskatchewan space.
Going into 2021, Marchand said she entertained the idea of moving to an online format to retain contact with both artists and buyers, and do it in a format that is safe and comfortable for everybody.
According to Marchand, online viewing allows collectors and wider audiences to sit in front of a piece of art and spend time experiencing and analyzing the work for as long as they desire without the pressures of physically being in a gallery.
“I don’t think it’s in any way a replacement. It’s an enhancement,” she said.
Physically experiencing art is no longer a prerequisite to purchase or enjoy works, said Theresa Van Groll, an art history professor at X University who formerly worked at the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Everson Museum of Art.
“A lot of museums realized that to maintain contact with their audience and to build the community that supports them, they have to step up to the plate and start expanding their virtual presence,” she said.
For some museums, the evolving online exhibitions gained popularity. The easily accessible content brings in many viewers who simply like the comfort of their home.
“I’ve had groups of students who have done virtual museum visits who are in different parts of the world,” said Van Groll. "There’s a lot of flexibility.”
But experts remain conflicted on whether digitalization is undermining the power of physical art and abandoning the tradition of visiting a museum.
“One of the things you miss is scale. It’s not my body standing in front of the object for me to compare myself to the size of that work of art. We get a completely different impression,” said Van Groll.
As a painter herself, Marchand is interested in the application techniques of paint on canvas, which she notes is not quite visible on an online platform.
“The in-person galleries give the viewer a sense of what the artwork would look like in a room, from scale to texture. This isn’t very successfully translated to online exhibits,” she said.
Despite all the positives of an online format, Marchand believes that “there is nothing like actually being there and seeing art.” But she highlights that with a boost in online shopping across all markets, more and more people are finding it convenient to shop for art online.
Canadian works of art sold at Canada’s Heffel auction amounted to over $16 million as of August 2021.
“We have seen works by prominent artists reach new heights, important institutions and organizations join forces across all facets of the industry and major developments in the way art is presented and enjoyed,” according to a Heffel newsletter.
With 908 remote live auction bidders and viewers, the auction featured a three-city broadcast from salerooms in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, bringing together the live and digital experience.
According to the Heffel newsletter, “this reimagined format was a first in the Canadian market, and we are proud to be paving the way as the auction world experiences a new era.”