The Saatchi online gallery has initiated an innovative democratic art appreciation project online, where signed-up members of their virtual gallery can submit their artwork for a weekly 'public voting' competition. The public are invited to appraise the uploaded artworks and choose those that they love the most by rating their aesthetic appeal from 1 to 10. At the end of each voting week, the two artworks with the highest votes are announced - the public then get another week to vote for the winner of the two most popular pieces. A total of 12 rounds will roll out over the next few months, soliciting 12 overall finalists, until the big bad final Showdown when the most popular of the 12 will be voted for, again, by the public. Our only criticism is the prize money, a paltry 1000 pounds for the winner and 750 for the runner up. We've seen bigger prizes given out at a country fair. Come on Saatchi, surely all the effort, promotion and click traffic is worth a lot more than that? We challenge you!  Read more about the initiative from Saatchi online below:

  In a new initiative to generate more exposure for the artists in Saatchi Online and Saatchi Online Art Students, and to spotlight their work to as wide an audience as possible, we have created SHOWDOWN.

SHOWDOWN is for all registered Saatchi Online and Saatchi Online Art Students artists to enter their works for visitors to score. The winner of the final head-to-head vote will receive £1000 and the runner up will receive £750. The winning work will go on display at the new Saatchi gallery.

HOW IT WORKS

To submit your artwork in SHOWDOWN, you need to be a registered Saatchi Online or Saatchi Online Art Students artist.