Ukrainian gallery sells paintings by weight

 BEIJING, July 8 (Xinhuanet) — We’re used to paying for fruit and vegetables by weight, but not paintings – that is until now. A gallery in the Ukraine is selling art work by the kilo rather than by how good it is.

At this exhibition in Kyiv, the artist’s reputation, or the style of the piece, don’t matter – it is the weight that counts.

Entitled “Second Hand of Modern Art,” the exhibition is selling paintings based on their weight.

Serhiy Kuznetsev, organizer of “Second Hand of Modern Art” said, “So, let’s take this picture by Masha Pasychnyk and weigh it. It comes out at 900 grams. What does that mean for its price? Well that just comes out at just under a hundred US dollars.”

But this is not the final price, the exhibition also allows for bartering. Kuznetsev says the initiative is not just about selling pictures, it’s about raising awareness of new names in the art world.

He says this is a novel way to popularise and distribute art today, when art has become a commodity.

One visitor says he thinks this is a great way to buy art.

“This is cool. If people buy pictures by weight, it’s not a problem. It’s very nice if people take a picture home for a good price.”

“I like this exhibition and I do like lots of the pictures. I’ve been walking around looking for something to buy for myself.”

10 Ukrainian artists are participating in the exhibition, and there are 130 pictures on show.

Some of Ukraine’s most prominent artists from the “Ukrainian New Wave” from the 1990s, such as Illya Chichkan, are participating in the sale. Her work is weighed and sold alongside lesser known works.

But it doesn’t mean the heavier, the better.

The heaviest painting here weighed 12 kilograms and was sold for 700 US dollars, after a big discount. But “Supermarket” by Vita Kalmovskaya costs 674 US dollars, while only weighing 5.5 kilos.

The exhibition decided to value the paintings by weight to represent the amount of time spent by each artist on their work. But just as the sale suggests, it doesn’t mean buyers will agree.

(Source: cntv.cn)