2023-08-15 13:55:28
The big name in has just launched YourArt, a platform open to all artists, and aims to make it “the YouTube of art”. Maurice Lévy introduces us.
You have just launched YourArt, your ambitious platform connecting artists, galleries and collectors. After Publicis and Vivatech, will this be Maurice Lévy’s third success story?
Maurice Lévy: With the team (Laurence Bonicalzi Bridier, ex-boss of Weborama France, is the CEO; Jonas Botbol, another former Weborama, the CTO; and Jonas Lévy, the VP Product, editor’s note), we hope so ! The genesis of YourArt goes back about ten years, when I read a report from an insurance company whose last chapter was devoted to amateur artists. The numbers were staggering: outside of China and India, there are 50 million people who practice the art regularly in one way or another, and 150 million who practice it intermittently. .
ART FOR ALL_
You dream of laying your eyes on masterpieces of contemporary art, but you’re too lazy to go to the Bourse de commerce. Don’t panic, Maurice Lévy and Laurence Bonicalzi Bridier have the solution.
And who are looking to show off their creations?
Yes, there is also a considerable frustration since these artists often cannot do it. So they go to the fairs, along the banks during the summer, with a little material, to show their work as they can, in a somewhat wild way. At that time, I thought to myself that it would be good to set up the biggest gallery in the world so that they had the possibility of exhibiting. In 2019, I had a little more time (after having been the boss of Publicis for around thirty years, Maurice Lévy is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Publicis Groupe, editor’s note), I spoke to my children about it.
How was the platform set up then?
After looking at what already existed, we realized that there was a niche for a more playful, more open, more art-loving platform. Something for all actors, without exception. And above all, ahead of technology.
This platform was launched in May. What are the first returns?
We already find ourselves with more than a thousand artists enrolled directly or registered through their gallery. There is also a marked interest from galleries – we have about fifty, and not the least. Finally, the public is very curious. The beginnings are promising.
The next step will be NFTs?
Absolutely, even if the first step is far from complete. YourArt must establish itself as the essential platform for art lovers. And then indeed, phase 2 will highlight digital works, with the possibility of using NFC (Near Field Communication, editor’s note) and NFTs to enhance and confirm the authenticity of the work. The NFC will be attached to the work and accompanied by the certificate of authenticity.
Hanging on the walls of your office are some beautiful pieces from the 20th century. What is your own background as an art collector?
When I was a kid, I was surrounded by some interesting works, mostly Spanish. And when I had the means, I bought in galleries. And then, gradually, I was able to do a little research, and with my wife, we always followed favorites. We didn’t think about the value of a work or its resale, we always bought because it caused a “heartbeat”.
With YourArt, do you plan to set up support and advice for collectors, as a classic gallery owner would do?
The first step will be to do it with curators. We have set up a whole curation process, with the idea of guiding the non-experienced inside this platform. The curators will also have the task of going to find, within YourArt, something diversified, both in terms of price and artist profiles, emerging or not. Finally, every month, a collector will share his crush on a particular artist.
You rely heavily on the creation of content (films, articles, etc.) to best present all these artists.
Yes, this highlight is essential. There will then be a jury of experts to choose the work of the week, of the month…
The following ?
We have every intention of expanding internationally. YourArt will be, we hope, the essential place to present, exhibit and sell his works. The intention is to ensure that artists are promoted, recognized and, perhaps one day, adored.
“A METAVERS OPEN TO ALL ARTISTS!” »
If you start buying works, building a collection, you will need a physical place to store them…
This is the store! This will be the culmination. It will mean that we have truly succeeded and that at that time we will have a place where people can come and admire the works. But we must not forget the metaverse. Everything we’ve designed so far, whether it’s meta-galleries or imaginary museums, all the physical solutions if I dare say that we’ve imagined, are designed in language for the metaverse. What makes that we are in 3D and that the day when we want to pass to the metaverse, it will be very easy. We are ready for the metaverse – a metaverse open to all artists! We can walk through the galleries, with audio-guides…
In a few months, do you think we’ll be there, in this metaverse promised by Zuckerberg and Meta?
We realize all the same that there is the need for equipment, it is more complicated. There are already new headset solutions presented by Apple, or Meta, but it’s still quite expensive. But in any case, we must prepare to be “Web3”…
You are behind the invitation of Elon Musk to VivaTech, the event you co-founded. You said before you saw him that you didn’t know if he was a good or a bad genius.
I asked him the question on stage, during the interview. He replied: “A lil’ bit of both”.
And Elon signed up for YourArt?
Not yet ! But hey, I think he has the means to afford some beautiful works with us…
Par Laurence Remila
Photos Jérémie Nassif
1692432944
#Maurice #Lévy #communication #artist #Setting #biggest #gallery #world