Contemporary Art and Social Media: Unit London

Despite the progressive nature of the contemporary art industry, there had never been a huge presence of these artists in the social media space. That is, until Unit London exploded onto the scene in 2013 with a range of pop-up locations highlighting a new group of diverse, unrepresented artists whose talent was to be celebrated in a non-discriminate way. Its founders, Joe Kennedy and Jonny Burt, endeavoured to advance the contemporary art scene by taking a more accessible and inclusive approach to exhibitions, putting community and connection at the heart of everything they do. This strategy has been hugely successful and has led to the gallery having a massive global following. In today’s episode, we chat to co-founder Joe. Joe takes us through how, at 22 years old, he took his marketing experience and applied it to an industry which tended to favour those with greater access and financial means to succeed in the art world. Joe utilised social media platforms such as Instagram to champion undiscovered artists and to allow fans to watch Unit London’s journey progress from a small pop-up in West London to a globally renowned gallery with over half a million followers.