Meet NALA, the art matchmaker platform likened to Tinder for your walls

“It works a little bit like Tinder but you match with artworks instead of people,” says Penelope Sonder, of art platform NALA.

It’s a dream soundbite but it is also a pretty accurate description of how NALA works. Based on an algorithm developed by founder Ben Gulak at MIT, potential art buyers train the app on their artistic tastes by swiping left or right on artworks that have been uploaded for sale by a network of around 23,000 global artists. The app learns from their responses to feed them works that should appeal.

“It’s a very sophisticated system,” says Sonder, the company’s chief operating officer, who is based between London and Lisbon. “It’s not just, ‘Oh you like paintings of cats, so we’ll show you more cats.’ It’s a lot more intricate in terms of, what kind of mood is this? Could there be some surrealism that could be of interest, or is it more abstract arts?

Vinterior

“We have a lot of different subcategories that we teach our algorithm that really makes you intricately understand and therefore match art, which is something that I do as an art adviser. I teach the algorithm these layers of understanding art. We constantly update people’s taste profiles, which they can access also for free on the app. If you’re new to art, you can get an understanding of what you like.”

When a buyer “matches” with an artwork, they can message the artist directly to buy or make an offer on the piece. There are categories for works under $250, up to under $2,500, but of course they could cost anything above that, too. All the money from the sale goes to the artist. The buyer pays a 12 per cent fee at check-out to cover insurance and other fees and NALA oversees shipping to ensure it is carried out to an artwork-worthy standard.

The platform only sells physical work that has been human fabricated in some way, such as painting and sculpture. It is yet to host video artists but Sonder says this would be possible if the work came with a physical set-up or installation.

Anyone can upload work but anything pornographic is not allowed so some more transgressive artists will probably not find an audience on NALA. “The platform has no age limit so we don’t touch anything that’s too gnarly or too crazy. Anything that gets rejected by the algorithm comes directly to me to make the final decision,” says Sonder.

Artists pay a $9 fee to upload work but they are then able to connect with a wide, global and, hopefully, engaged audience — currently Sonder says there are around 8,000 buyers registered on the app. NALA does not require any exclusivity so artists can also have gallery representation.

The NALA app

“We do not mimic the physical art market online with the artists and their studio working with a middleman, which would be a gallery or artist manager, who would then take 50 per cent of the sale price,” says Sonder. “We basically cut out the middleman. We bring the artist directly to the buyer and vice versa.”

More recently NALA has added a professional dashboard for interior designers with additional search options for designers to find works for individual projects, rather than matched with their personal taste.

The brand also hosts regular live exhibitions in cities all over the world, with the next London show opening at Laundry Studios in Hackney from December 3 and running for three months. “We have been so trained by a marketing machinery that is beautiful, that is elegant, that gives us all the imagery to get hooked, but I think more and more people are waking up to this being a machine.

“The real value now lies in handmade, in individuality. People want to feel like they are surrounded by craft, handmade beauty and craft objects. So now the question is, how do you know what’s good?” Sonder hopes that’s where NALA can help.