Visual art and social media: is Instagram the gallery of the future?

Updated: Mar 7, 2021

The Instagram-shaped society we live in forces us to re-think the idea of exhibition space as well as the role of the artist. By Claudia Schergna

2020 has seen a phenomenal rise of art engagement on social media with tons of #dailyart hashtags, art selfies and shamelessly ironic art memes. While being a triumph for some people, this increase has been a concern for many others, who argue that social platforms are selling artists’ works off.

Instagram has been a launching platform for many artists, and for others a way to update their audience and keep them engaged. For art lovers, it’s a real blessing while galleries and museums are closed.

But can a 6 x 3 inches phone screen be the new gallery wall?

“I go to galleries and museum on a weekly basis anyway, so I thought, why don’t I share it?” said Tracy Yuan, a NY-based young gallerist and “art explorer”, as she wrote on her Instagram bio.

“Many of my followers are based outside New York. Back in November almost all Europe was in lockdown and I got a comment from a follower based in London saying: ‘So good to see all the galleries you’re able to go to, you’re making my day’.”

Tracy, @trace_out_art, is a Parson’s Graduate who, in 2018, started her online gallery where emerging artists can sell or even rent their artworks to New Yorkers. Her Instagram account is not simply a gallery page: “People don’t like to follow businesses so I decided to make my personal account public and in 2019 I started doing it almost full-time. I want to give my followers an art guide to where to go in NYC.”

Her Instagram account, as well as many others, have also provided artists with a free, anytime, interactive gallery, and it gave them the chance to get visibility.

Although Instagram doesn’t have subscription fees, all this doesn’t come for free. Artists may not have to undergo the curatorial judgment to get their work out there, but they have to face something way harsher: the social media algorithm.

“It’s exciting to make a piece of art and literally a minute later, declare it,” said Michael Ajerman, a London-based American visual artist and art educator. “But most of the times, making an artwork is quite an intimate process. And as soon you declare it’s done, you’re putting your piece under review.”

The review Michael talks about is not made by critiques or art historians, nor by journalists or visitors of an exhibition. It’s made by clicks, follows and likes.

He believes there is no need to demonise social media, however. It can be used to do much more than unfairly rating content and devaluating artists’ work.

“There are positive and negative roles,” says Michael, @michaelajerman, who’s very active on social media. Since the pandemic started he has been holding online history of art lectures for his followers. “The positive is that you can learn about someone’s work or about a new exhibition. It’s more straightforward than a gallery guide,” he said.

“The negative side is the over-saturation of the imagery: if I get 200 likes for a painting, is that better than the piece I got 50 likes for?

“Also, when you look at art on Instagram, you have no idea if they are the size of your palm, or the size of a truck!”

Many artists are creating accessible, pop and sometimes provocative artworks, trying to adapt their art to the digital world’s criteria. Social media is a jungle of content and creating something that stands out, but is still true to the original, can be a real challenge.

“So much can get lost in the scroll,” said Becky Warren, who is an art influencer and social media consultant for artists. “For those who are new to the platform, it can seem like a futile effort to try to gain a large following. That is where I come in to help artists!”

Social media provides creatives with great opportunities: "Artists from all over the world, regardless of education or socioeconomic background or age or race, all have this platform to show and share their work for free. It’s a beautiful way to put yourself and your work out there with very limited risk and sometimes very high reward.”

Becky, also known as @girlseesart, founded her Instagram account during graduate school at the Fashion Institute for Technology, back when Instagram profiles were not a thing. Today her page has more than 32k followers.

“The whole mission of my account is to make art accessible to anyone,” says Becky, who is active in promoting artists from underrepresented minorities. “Growing up without very much money and no access to fine art, I often felt intimidated in galleries and museums when I landed in NYC.

“The more familiar I got with these spaces by working in them, visiting them, and owning my own gallery, my goal to demystify the elitist art world continued to grow. I hope people can come to my page and see themselves in me, a nobody really, or a somebody rather, just a person and the art, without the expectations and rules associated with being in an art space. Because art truly is for everyone.”