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Eyestorm blows over—almost - Front Page - art gallery - Brief - Brief Article
Art in America, Oct, 2002 by David Ebony
When Eyestorm debuted in 1999 it was the model of a trendy on-line art gallery. Founders David Grob and Don Smith launched the company with substantial financial backing that many experts estimated at around $35 million. Commissioning works from a formidable group of contemporary artists, including Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, Andy Goldsworthy, Jeff Koons, William Eggleston and many others, the company offered the items for prices ranging from $200 to $7,000. To augment the virtual gallery, Eyestorm, with a staff of 80, opened two public galleries in London and New York. Last October, Eyestorm's profile was further raised when David A. Ross, after leaving his post as San Francisco Museum of Modern Art director, became the company's chairman [see "Artworld," Oct. `01].
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Just six months later, everything seemed to start falling apart. The company's sluggish annual sales, at around $2.5 million, could hardly offset its astronomical overhead; With debts estimated at $30 million, the London-based firm filed legal motions to liquidate. Turning the business over to the liquidators in May, it promptly closed the galleries, and layoffs ensued. The process effectively staved off numerous creditors, including many of the artists involved in the project and service providers such as framers.
During this time, the site remained on-line, operated by a skeleton crew; orders were taken but held, and credit cards were not charged. In midsummer, however, Eyestorm's founders managed to regain control of the company by promising to pay approximately $500,000 to the liquidators. In press statements, Smith blamed the company's woes on 9/11 and on backers' withdrawal of funding, and stated that the company will remain in business on-line and will try to honor its debts, particularly those to the artists.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Brant Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group
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