Two top floor spaces at Saatchi Gallery will be dedicated to a new section at British Art Fair this month. Titled ‘PIVOTAL:Digitalism’, the showcase promises to be a dynamic addition to the first-rate Modern and Contemporary British Art at this long standing fair. Designed by the celebrated creative director, Peter Higgins, one space will provide visitors with immersive experiences in digital art; and the other, an opportunity to see the latest AI, AR, VR, digital sculpture, moving image, photography and painting being created.
PIVOTAL marks the first time a UK art fair has dedicated an entire section to digital art. All works will be for sale, with staff on hand to give buyers specialist advice on collecting and displaying digital art.
“Now is the time to buy digital art”
Will Ramsay, Director, British Art Fair says:
“The digital works in my own collection give me great pleasure and are showstoppers for guests. Although the art form (in its various guises) has been around for many years, it is relatively new to the art market. Our message is that now is the time to buy digital art, and PIVOTAL at British Art Fair 2024 is the place to start your collection.”
PIVOTAL Team
PIVOTAL is produced and curated by prominent academic and interdisciplinary artist, Rebekah Tolley-Georgiou, with an advisory team including luminaries in the field of digital art.
As well as Royal Designer for Industry, Peter Higgins, the panel includes: BIMA Digital Hall of Fame alumni and futurist,Tomas Roope (Honorary Royal Designer for Industry); award-winning artist and guest lecturer on the MA Digital Direction at the Royal College of Art, Lol Sargent RCA; London-based New Zealand artist Jacqui Kenny, previously co-founder of The Rumpus Room, and best known as ‘The Agoraphobic Traveller’; multimedia technical manager, Tom Cullen, who has led on the installation of major works for Sir Isaac Julien, Bill Viola, Gillian Wearing, Steve McQueen, Sam Taylor Wood and Jane and Louise Wilson; artist and Creative Director, Office of Everyone, and tutor on the Digital Direction MA at the Royal College of Art, Jack Hardiker RCA.
PIVOTAL Artists
PIVOTAL brings together homegrown talent with international artists living or working in the UK, to help formulate a movement in art, defined as Digitalism, of which Rebekah Tolley-Georgiou says,
“The origins of Digitalism can be found in the post-war, post-modern electronic revolution, globalisation of mass media and the birth of the internet.” She says.”These artists – or digitalists – reflect a pivotal moment in the rapid expansion of digital technologies, which are having a profound effect on contemporary art and culture. PIVOTAL: Digitalism at British Art Fair aims to unequivocally establish this long overdue movement in art, which encompasses a myriad of innovative forms of digital creative expression.”
The artists include: AI photographer and creative director AI. S.A.M.; Lumen Prize winning artist Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrøm, creator of the first-ever AI and blockchain artwork in space aboard the International Space Station; British-Korean AI artist David Sheldrick, whose commissions include projects for Manchester City FC, Coke Studios, Standard Chartered Bank and Mercedes Benz; Jack Kaido, cited by Christie’s as ‘one of the artists at the forefront of digital art today’; Internationally acclaimed AI artist, Jacqui Kenny, the ‘Agoraphobic Traveller’, is showing alongside KEZIAI, an award-winning film director who brings keen imagination and cinematic storytelling to create whimsical works using AI; Award-winning integrated designer, and Web3 artist, Cem Hasimi. Senior 3D artist and video director, Lewis Benfield (LBVVFX) is exhibiting alongside 3D artist, Yanis Georges (ETHIKDESIGN).
Art agency Kei London is presenting works selected from its exciting roster of digital artists. Daniel Mahony, artist and performer, is showing work that examines the intersection between mythologies and archives, via machine learning, art making and narrative.
Experimental art collective Untold Garden, known for its physical installations, virtual sculptures and alternative social networks, will debut new work, as will the London artist known as X New Worlds, whose popularity has led to recent exhibitions in New York, Seoul, Porto and Barcelona. Artist, Jeremy Kidd, grandson of Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth, is showing photography, video art and NFTs.
PIVOTAL joins SOLO CONTEMPORARY, a platform curated by Zavier Ellis in bringing to British Art Fair the latest and most innovative art being created in the UK today.
British Art Fair runs 26-29 September 2024 at Saatchi Gallery.
