British Art Fair is introducing a new section for digital art called PIVOTAL: Digitalism. It will present the very best digital art being created and exhibited in Britain today and will be a first for a UK art fair.
British Art Fair is introducing a new section for digital art called PIVOTAL: Digitalism. This section will present the very best digital art being created and exhibited in Britain today, a first for a UK art fair.
Two top-floor galleries at the British Art Fair 2024 will be dedicated to PIVOTAL, which promises to be a dynamic addition to the Modern and Contemporary British Art on show.
Designed by the celebrated creative director Peter Higgins, one space will provide visitors with immersive experiences in digital art, and the other will offer an opportunity to see the latest AI, AR, VR, digital sculpture, moving images, 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.
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.”
The PIVOTAL Team
PIVOTAL is produced and curated by prominent academic and interdisciplinary artist Rebekah Tolley-Georgiou, with an advisory team that includes luminaries in the field of digital art. As well as Royal Designer for Industry, Peter Higgins, the panel consists of:
- BIMA Digital Hall of Fame alumni Tomas Roope (Honorary Royal Designer for Industry).
- The award-winning artist and guest lecturer on the MA. Digital Direction at the Royal College of Art, Lol Sargent R.C.A.
- The London-based New Zealand artist Jacqui Kenny known as ‘The Agoraphobic Traveller’.
- Multimedia technical manager Tom Cullen has led 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 R.C.A.
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.
“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 the AI photographer and creative director AI. SAM, whose work (see lead image and above) merges the real with the artificial, challenging our perception of virtual worlds; Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrøm, creator of the first-ever AI and blockchain artwork in space aboard NASA’s part of the International Space Station; British-Korean AI artist David Sheldrick (see below), 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’. New Zealand native Jacqui Kenny, known as the Agoraphobic Traveller, whose work challenges the idea of “who is the creator?”, is showing alongside KEZIAI, an award-winning film director who brings keen imagination and cinematic storytelling to create whimsical works using A.I., London-based, 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. RCA graduates Olesea Bortniac, Shahwali Shayan, and Tao Xie push the boundaries of creativity with their unique audio-visual works.
The experimental art collective Untold Garden (above), 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.
PIVOTAL joins SOLO CONTEMPORARY, a platform curated by Zavier Ellis, in bringing to the British Art Fair the latest and most innovative art being created in the UK today.