'How free is art if the artist is paid?', asks Priya Dhawan. In this tour of art through cultures and history, Priya questions artistic integrity and expression, the ethics behind commissions, and whether art can be true expression if it is also a career.

‘If artists receive money for one kind of work,’ Priya suggests, ‘are they not more likely to continue that type of work, regardless of what it has to say, rather than producing anything new or challenging?’

By comparing pieces from TheGallery’s collections, all from different sources, Priya debates the integrity of artists who rely on their art as a main source of income.

How free in their expression can an artist be if they only make money when people buy their art?

If an artist is commissioned, can the work ever be a representation of what they believe?

What are the alternatives to the current state of the art world?

Join Priya as she explores these ideas through the lenses of different times and cultures. In the past, maybe we can find a freer future.

Take this tour for £1.50.
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