After centuries of neglect by the global art establishment, African art is finally becoming big business. This creates the conditions for a perfect storm locally. While the demand for, and value of, African art is rapidly increasing, the South African art market is notoriously under-regulated a.
After centuries of neglect by the global art establishment, African art is finally becoming big business. This creates the conditions for a perfect storm locally. While the demand for, and value of, African art is rapidly increasing, the South African art market is notoriously under-regulated a.
Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.
Tyron Selmon may be the only art merchant in South Africa who’s not in the business of selling art.
“We don’t sell pictures, we don’t sell paintings, we don’t sell sculptures – we market artists,” Selmon told
DM168 in a two-hour interview in his office at the Art Eye Gallery in Fourways, Johannesburg. “We put millions of rands behind our artists’ careers.”
Until a flood of allegations appeared on social media sites recently, artists affiliated with Art Eye say it was impossible to know why they weren’t seeing the results of those millions reflected in their bank accounts.