In art, as in love, things can get a bit messy when the Internet is involved.

In the old days of aesthetic courtship, the rules were simple: artist toils in obscurity; gallery discovers artist; the Whitney calls and they fall in love at the Empire State Building. Gallerists were the gatekeepers to the art world, and finding an audience meant first finding a curator who thought you had child-bearing hips.

But with a new breed of artists publicizing, exhibiting and selling their work online and elsewhere, the commercial gallery system is set for a jarring realignment, says curator Scott Chasse:

As the tumultuous world of commercial galleries continues to scramble for readjustment to today’s
sales-savy artists, alternative methods of display are at the forefront of a battle, a battle which The
Distillery Gallery* has deemed: “Artageddon.” … Embracing alternative venues, social networks, street campaigns, and other creative outlets for their work, these artists are helping to shape the future of art commerce.

The show, which was on display in September, featured work from 20 artists without gallery representation, including many of the “street” artists who contributed to the Paint It Now exhibition last fall.

Jarrett Golz	Daniel Benayun
Michael Dacey	Corey Corcoran
Morgan Thomas	Ryan Lombardi
Kenji Nakayama	Josh Falk
Scott Chasse	Thomas Buildmore
Nick Z	Robert daVies
Judith Uehling	Sheryl Pace
Vanessa Irzyk	Dana Woulfe