When it comes to the art world today, it is safe to say that artists have a better chance of getting noticed for creating masterpieces of their own preference and design while gaining exposure. Thanks to the world wide web, especially social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, artists are showing millions of people around the world their artistic works.
However, there are far more positives being produced when it comes to art’s presence today. First, artists are no longer under the exclusive beck and call of art galleries and museums. Social platforms catered to artists showing their works such as Patreon, deviantART, and Fine Art America are putting more business control in artists’ hands. And second, the aforementioned social platforms catered to artists are giving them the chance to express art beyond pigeon-holed concepts, or what galleries and museums claim is “good art.” For some examples, Maria A. Aristidou paints with shades of coffee and Andrew Tarusov creates pin-up versions of classic female characters from television and film.
Apparently, this new direction means opportunity for SM Entertainment as well as certain artists. The talent agency responsible for bringing to life Super Junior, EXO, Girls’ Generation, and Red Velvet is issuing an open call to all talented artists to submit fan art of their K-pop stars for their new art platform called FanBook.
FanBook, the new social platform for artists who create fan art of SM Entertainment talent, will help push the growth of Hallyu fan art by allowing artists to showcase their artworks, similar to deviantART or Fine Art America. Just like the aforementioned social platforms, artists who are signed on are able to upload as many of their works of SM Entertainment talent to their home galleries while liking and curating the works of other fellow artists they admire.
Right now, FanBook is in its beta stage as the internet-savvy minds working at SM Entertainment work out all the bugs and kinks to make it run optimally. According to AllKpop, SM Entertainment plans to expand the FanBook platform to incorporate other features. Just like deviantART and Fine Art America, they want to add optional marketing in the near future. Not only that, SM Entertainment plans to create a smartphone app for FanBook too.
Reportedly, there is more to SM Entertainment’s open call to artists to create fan art of their talent. According to Yibada, SM Entertainment is running a contest known as “Challenge! I’m An Artist.” Artists will register one piece of art into the challenge in which the administrators might pick one of them to be featured. The contest runs from August 9 to August 31. Winners will receive various prizes. One grand award winner will win the latest iPad Pro (256GB) with an SM Special Gift Set worth 300,000 won ($3,000 USD). Five excellence award winners will win a Wacom Intuos Pro Tablet. Finally, 15 award winners will win an SM Special Gift Set worth 100,000 won ($1,000 USD).
The winners will be announced on September 7, and their art will be on display at both the SM Communication Center and COEX Artium. So if you are a fan of SM Entertainment and you like to create fan art, here is your chance to shine.
[Image via SM Entertainment]