NEW YORK, NY.- Following its recent launch in April 2014,
Curiator , the new online platform to discover, collect and share art, launched its free mobile app for iOS last night at a special event at 55 Walker Street. The new app is available for download from the App Store.
Curiator allows people to build their digital art collection by importing images of art they like and collecting art added by others. The platform was nominated for a 2014 Webby Award, the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, in the art category.
The new app expands the platforms potential by enabling users to add art on the go. A simple and intuitive interface guides the user through the process, first by snapping a photo of the artwork, followed by a photo of the label. The text on the label is then analyzed and transcribed, and the artwork is stored in the users collection, neatly organized by artist.
Curiators app is particularly useful to people attending art fairs and exhibitions, where they are already in the habit of snapping photos of the artwork labels. By streamlining the process and organizing the information for them, Curiator is taking a first important step towards bridging the gap between the real world of museums, galleries and art fairs, and the digital world.
It is part of Curiators vision to build towards a platform that is seamlessly integrated with the physical art world, encouraging and inspiring people to engage more with the art that surrounds them in galleries and museums across the globe, said co-founder Moenen Erbuer. We live in the most amazing time for the arts, and we hope to connect people with whats out there. Tobias Boonstoppel, co-founder, added.
Curiator compares itself not with a digital gallery, but rather a digital museum. Around that notion, it designed an interface that puts the art front and center, hiding any unnecessary clutter behind a cutting-edge draggable interface. Unlike other visual social networks like Tumblr or Pinterest, Curiator also recognizes the importance of properly crediting the artist. Any mistakes are quickly corrected by the community, which can add or edit any information, or report art if necessary.
Curiator celebrated the launch of its app last night at 55 Walker Street with a large group of collectors, curators, tech innovators and members of the media. The event was marked by a special raffle that gave the winner, Eve Bower, a commissioned artwork by New York artist Walter Robinson. Among the guests in attendance were Walter Robinson and Lisa Rosen, collector and art advisor Diane Ackerman, curator Rachel Gugelberger, former dealer Sara Meltzer, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum curator Karol Vail and Andrew Huston, curator and critic Kisa Lala, El Museo del Barrio curator Rocio Aranda- Alvarado, gallerist Florence Lynch, and designer Suchi Reddy, as well as artists Shane Hope, Adam Ames and Elissa Levy.