Myartspace Joins Bridge Art Fair

Contemporary art fairs have quickly established a foundation within the art world. These fairs have changed the financial landscape of art commerce and will continue to do so. Entry into notable fairs can be very competitive and more often than not only galleries are considered instead of individual artists. A booth at a notable art fair can cost thousands of dollars which is a burden that most artists would not be able to afford. The artist social networking site myartspace has obviously taken notice of this by establishing a joint competition involving one of the hottest art fairs in existence today, the Bridge Art Fair.

Bridge Art Fair currently presents a combined total of nearly 300 galleries and over 2,000 artists at four expositions throughout the year. Since the premier of Bridge Miami Beach in 2006, total sales of nearly $30 million and more than 100,000 visitors have confirmed Bridge as a leading voice in a newly globalized art marketplace. Apparently, Myartspace and Bridge Art Fair have teamed up in order to establish a competition that will send three finalists to the Bridge Art Fair this December during Art Basel Miami . 50 finalists will be represented in a catalog at the Myartspace booth with three top winners exhibiting at Bridge. This includes a preview and press preview that involves influential art collectors and members of the press. The site has claimed that the competition is a "resume building opportunity". Compared to some of the art site competitions I've observed lately I tend to agree. 

Bridge Art Fair is an interesting contemporary art fair because it has done what other art fairs have not in that it meshes mainstream art and underground art. The Bridge Art Fair is true to its name in that it bridges many gaps in the art world. That meshing can be observed by some of the galleries that have exhibited with Bridge:

Capla Kesting Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY, USA-- www.caplakesting.com
Billy Shire Fine Arts, Culver City, CA, USA-- www.billyshirefinearts.com
Strychnin Gallery, Berlin, London, NY-- www.strychnin.com
Chi Contemporary Fine Arts, Brooklyn, NY, USA-- www.chicontemporaryfineart.com
Wade Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan-- www.wadafinearts.com
Mumford Fine Art, London, UK-- www.mumfordfineart.net
Walsh Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA-- www.walshgallery.com

So as you can see there is room for everyone in this competition. A follower of  Mark Ryden, Sas Chrisian, or Chet Zar stands just as much of a chance as someone who works in the manner of Damien Hirst or Tracey Emin. That is a breath of fresh air compared to art competitions that favor one form of expression over the other. Regardless of your thoughts on mainstream art and underground art the jury panel for this competition is exceptional.

The jury panel for the joint competition between the artist social networking site Myartspace and the Bridge Art Fair is impressive. It includes, Elisabeth Sussman, Senior Curator, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Janet Bishop, Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), JoAnne Northrup, Senior Curator, San Jose Museum of Art and Michael Workman, Founder, Bridge Art Fair. Simply by entering the competition artists have something to add to their resume by pointing out who reviewed their art.

While I am normally wary of entry fee art competitions I must say that the jury panel makes it well worth the $25 to enter and Myartspace has the history to back them having had jurors from the Tate Modern and Sotheby's in the past with there New York, New York and Next Perspective competitions. It is not everyday that a unknown emerging artist can have work reviewed by jurors like this. I also have to give Myartspace credit for offering competitions that involve more than having your work printed as an album cover or on some other form of merchandise that is often the "reward" of winning the average online art competition. deviantART and Redbubble should learn from Myartspace and Saatchi had better stay on his game!

For more information about the Bridge Art Fair and Myartspace visit, www.bridgeartfair.com, www.myartspace.com/miamibasel/