News

Art’s Coming Home!

If you like your art, then Dave Plotkin knows exactly what you want!

With his brand new website www.exactlywhatiwant.co.uk, Dave is bringing galleries into people’s homes and making art more accessible than it’s ever been before.

Dave, who has cerebral palsy, first had the idea back in January, and enjoyed seeing his idea come to fruition.
“I first came up with the idea because I was looking for a picture of a sunset to go on my wall,” said Dave, 24, who lives in Stratton in Swindon. “But finding something suitable was nowhere near as easy as it should have been.

“Being in a wheelchair it can be very difficult to travel around various galleries trying to find what I want, especially as many are old fashioned buildings and not particularly accessible.”

“In fact in this modern age most people haven’t got the time to look around every gallery to try and find something that fits their vision. My idea was to create an interactive gallery experience that does all the work for you, moving art into the twenty-first century.”

And so ‘Exactly What I Want’ was born. Not only does the site allow users to search extensively for certain galleries or artists, but they can input key words, such as ‘seascape’ or ‘animals’ and it will find every piece of art that fits the description.

The site then links back to every gallery and every artist, making it a great way to purchase art and to discover new artists and styles from browsing.

“The point,” said Dave, “is that art is so diverse. By coming onto the site most people will be able to find something that suits their taste. What is paramount is that the image is essential and a clear image of every piece of art is just a click away.


Since then Dave has dedicated every available hour to the site, making it as accessible as possible and encouraging galleries to submit their art.

Dave is one of the many entrepreneurs who have been able to utilise the true value of the internet and its ability to transcend many barriers.

“With my disability and the obvious challenges and obstacles that it brings, the Internet opens so many doors and makes anything possible,” said Dave, who has already uploaded over 1,000 images onto the site.

And it is by no means just galleries that benefit from 'Exactly What I Want'. The site is also geared towards amateur and aspiring artists who can showcase their work.

For just £10 per month or £95 per year, galleries and artists can upload as many images as they want and have complete control over them. And for the first month they do not have to pay a thing, benefiting from a month's free trial to make sure they are getting the most out of the unique service.

“The site is not in any way elitist like a lot of art websites,” said Dave. “Anyone can upload their work quickly and easily and it won’t be ranked or get lost among the more prestigious work.”

And as a law graduate (he graduated in 2003 from Cardiff University), Dave knows the importance of good business practice and from the outset he has made sure the site is used in the right way, and has been able to give the artists and galleries as much freedom as possible to submit their work and link back to their own websites.

Those looking to submit art to the site should contact Dave on 01793 531274 or 0780211147, or by emailing info@exactlywhatiwant.co.uk

Read an article in the Swindon Advertiser by clicking here.