I know a lot of gallery hopping area's (chinatown, Bergemont Station, Chelsea, etc.,) are a little like going to the mall sometimes but now that shit is really going to get all Orange Julius on your ass. Britart/eyestorm -"the worlds leading retailer of signed limited edition contemporary art & photograpy"- already has 5 gallery's (4 in the UK, one in NYC) but they are trying to get even bigger via the medium that has grown everything from fast food to house cleaning services - The Franchise.No, I am not kidding!
From the prospectus:
"Owning and managing your own gallery will be rewarding in every sense. You will be running a 'lifestyle' business that will develop both commercial and social contacts for you, as well as having the potential to generate a high level of income for the right franchisees"
I guess it is elitist to dismiss this out of hand, but, well I guess I am an elitist. What ever happened to the idea of just finding some people with talent and helping them to sell their stuff to people who enjoy being around art? I know, I know, it is _much_ more complicated than that, but I can not imagine a franchise helping in the ways that it is... though the prospectus does go on to point out that buying large sets of prints for the whole system will lower per unit costs so...
Not that I am a huge fan but I would love to hear what Dave Hickey thinks of all this....
Posted by thickeye at September 29, 2004 01:17 AM | TrackBack