Should sci-artists reduce the price of their rare art works and degrade themselves and their work?

by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa

Jul 10, 2014

"I have been asked to reduce the price of my sci-art works in order to sell them by gallery owners and curators. What should I do?" asked a sci-artist.

It is difficult to answer the Q for anyone.

Because artists need money to live. But at the same time genuine sci-art is so rare and it is extremely difficult to do the works connecting two different fields. It takes a lot of time and mental effort and the money the artist expects for his hard work is 'not much' when these things are taken into account.

Of course when compared to other easy to do works like nature or portraits, what my artist friend quoted is 'more'.

I think the gallery people should not compare sci-art work with other types of art works. A rarity is a rarity. Hard work is hard work. These have to be taken into account. Curators and gallery owners should explain this to their customers. Unable to do this, they are asking the sci-artists to cut down their prices. This is highly unjustifiable.

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    Simon Kregar

    This is the age old dilemma. The art world dictates that the value of your work is based on what people place on it. In the old gallery system that was the art critics and curators. Now it is public demand. 

    I can only speak for myself. The works that I find are shared quite a bit (a over million shares for one) I will not budge on the price of. It devalues my entire work. Now on the other hand I want to promote science and make a living at this, so  ioffer the less popular pieces at a discount, I let the market decide what the pricing should be based on the demand. 

    Science art, astronomical art, space art, unfortunately is not often regarded highly by the art community at large.  The way to change this is to remove the art community (galleries and critics ) from the equation and cater directly to the public though popular media and the internet. I gave up on the old gallery system years ago. 

    I say just do it, just put yourself out there to the public. Yes you will fail sometimes, but just keep pushing. Here in Tucson Az USA where I live we "Science" artists have formed a guild and promote each other. In a few short months we are booked solid with shows and world class workshops. 

    http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/art/  

    http://simonkregar.com/workshop/  

    http://spaceandlightart.com/

    My advice, keep pushing, your audience is there and waiting, you just need to connect with them. 

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    Oct 4, 2014