The Traveller's Magazine
Virgin Atlantic is at it again. There’s new buzz for this airline as they plan to launch the world’s first art gallery in the air. Virgin’s upper class passengers will soon be able to shop onboard for the latest in contemporary art… just like they do duty free!
Virgin Atlantic is treating its upper class passengers the ultimate art-buyer’s experience in February on flights between London and New York City as the airline plans to turn their flights into commercial art galleries in the air. This is a first! They’re calling it “The Gallery in the Air” and will be in action from February 1st to the 28th. The artwork on sale will be from British artist Ben Eine.
Eine reached global recognition when David Cameron presented Barak Obama with one of his paintings as a gift when he visited Washington for the first time in 2010. Around London you’ve probably walked past some of Eine’s work on the streets. His alphabet graffiti is all over Shoreditch’s shop shutters.
Like street art? Check out:
London by Banksy
10 pieces of Ben Eine’s work will be put on sale by the airline in their Gallery in the Air exhibition, ranging in price from £2,500 to £15,000. The pieces will be on display in Virgin Atlantic’s lounges in Heathrow, JFK and Newark. Passengers will be able to take a close look at them and once onboard be able to take a virtual tour of the “gallery” and purchase pieces they like in the same way they would do their duty-free shopping.
As for Eine, he loved the idea, saying,
“We have created a completely original way of appreciating and buying art – a new frontier for the industry. My philosophy through all my work, be it on canvas or on the street, is about pushing boundaries and not simply going with the flow because everyone else is doing something a certain way.”
Love the idea? Which artist would you like to see for sale up in the skies?
