Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or so it was decided for us. In the days before the internet was available to most of us, it was only a handful of art critics, so called experts and of course the almighty art galleries that could make or break an artist. In other words it was decided for us what was deemed art and what was not.

Anyone who did not have access to those experts and galleries had essentially no chance to have their art seen and discussed by an audience outside of friends and family. As a result, many great artists were never discovered and their art languished in their studios, seen by no one.

This is clearly a situation that is not acceptable. Art, and for that matter, any kind of art, must be given the opportunity to be viewed, talked about and most importantly, artist should have the chance to show their art in places where fellow artists and art lovers gather.

Thanks to the “Web 2.0″ concept people are now able to create and join online communities and networks. This has enabled artists to display their art in new ways, and at the same time, receive comments and feedback from their online followers.

Now we are free to not simply be consumers who can only get information that has been been “pre-screened” for us by so called experts. We are now able to enjoy information that is freely available and are even able to generate information and content on any subject we would like to share with the world. And this is particular great news if you are an artists.

When you look at trends in entertainment, you see that traditional monolithic information providers such as commercial TV and newspapers are in the ropes while user communities and user-generated content flourishes. I myself rarely watch commercial network TV anymore. There is so much interesting stuff on the web that commercial-interrupted TV has completely lost its appeal.

Thanks to all this new technology contemporary artists need no longer rely on traditional galleries, art collectors or critics to be “discovered”. The discovery part is now being done by the people that matter the most – YOU!.. And I am sure that eveyone agrees with me when I say that we are all quite able to decide if we like a piece of art or not. And thanks to web we are now able to make this decision for ourselves.

Unfortunately this, of course, does not guarantee immediate fame and fortune, but clearly it provides what the vast majority of artists desires most: feedback from fellow artists and art lovers alike. Plus the opportunity to display their art to perhaps many millions of potential art enthusiasts.

There now exists an ever expanding number of ways that artists can put themselves across the web. For example, they can participate in major social networks, they can even join special communities and forums that have been created just for artists, or they are able to create their own interactive online art galleries where they can display whatever type of art their creative spirit so desires. Be it landscape paintings, surrealism, expressionism or abstract art.

No more middlemen as visitors are able to purchase art direct from the artist!… All communication lines are wide open as visitors are able to talk to the artist directly via chat, forums and discussion boards. The amount of information available from the artist is great as they are able to exchange their thoughts with their peers and art enthusiasts via video interviews, polls and even online workshops. And how much easier is it then to commission a piece of art directly from the artist online? The sky is the limit.

The bottom line is that artists now have entirely new ways to exhibit their work and communicate with art connoisseurs and potential buyers. There are no geographic limits, no artificial barriers, no waiting for galleries, and no reliance on connections with important people. The Internet and web are providing opportunity and access to everyone.