I hate white walls. They’re nerve-wracking and drive me bonkers. They’re either too bright and bounce inconvenient light everywhere or slightly dirty from dusty cobwebs in high corners. Frankly, they’re just unattractive to me so I don’t understand how any civilized person does not paint or at least personalize their apartment (trim anyone?) prior to moving in. Unless you want your home to look like a waiting room and that’s your thing…
But what I find more appalling than a plain white wall is a lack of any original artwork hanging on that plain white wall. So often I walk into a beautiful home with immaculate wallpaper only to have my vision marred by a framed Z Gallery print of a llama sticking its neck out a New York City taxi cab. They ask me if I like it, so I nod and say “I don’t,” purposely confusing them with my contradictory delivery. Four fucking times I’ve seen that print in homes and the majority of people I know don’t own homes… so these are folks in an economic bracket that can afford to do better.
The truth is you don’t need a lot of money to buy original artwork. The key here is original and signed numbered prints absolutely count. For years, I’ve given free curated tours of Gallery Row and I consider it a personal victory if anyone buys a piece no matter how small. Frankly, I’d much rather see a broke-ass art enthusiast spend $50 on a piece s/he loves than some rich fucker drop $10k for the investment.
Which is so often the hang-up when collecting art. People will consider purchasing art for the investment but shudder at the thought of buying it for the pure pleasure of admiring it in their worldview on a daily basis. Even at silent art auctions, I see patrons hover over bidding sheets googling names on their smartphones discussing out loud the perceived value rather than simply enjoying the art first beforehand as a reason to buy. Now, that’s a smart thing to do if only for the sake of knowing what you’re bidding on, but you’re not in it for the art which is totally cool since it’s for charity. But you’re also part of the problem and I hate you. Yes, saying it’s all about art is a loaded statement and I’m guilty of saying it a lot and worse, believing it. No doubt I drink my own kool-aide, but I practice what I preach.
Buying art should never be about how famous the artist is or how valuable the art may be in the future. That’s the first step towards wishing the artist dead for the short sale. If you’re reading this, you can’t afford the sound investment in the first place so you’re much better off searching for something you like, or even better – love. If they’re not a name already, nobody can say who will be famous just like nobody knows which song will be a hit or movie will be a blockbuster. It’s a lottery and it’s simply not genuine to expect to spend $250 for a piece of art in the hopes it will be worth $25,000 in twenty-five years and if it doesn’t – feel ripped off. It certainly shouldn’t keep you from buying it in the first place.
The only way to approach buying art from a poor man’s point of view is to think how else you may spend $250 and whether or not you will derive as much pleasure from that as you would from buying a piece from a grateful artist, hanging it in your home, admiring it on a daily basis, and most importantly – having an amazing conversation piece when entertaining guests. Consider how much is spent on action figures, DVD collections, video games, Mac accessories, jeans never worn, shoes… and $250 is not far off.
Collecting art is a hobby. Since buying art should be for love and not the investment, it’s easier to accept the practice as pleasure rather than vocation. More than anything, it should be fun and feel good. Learning about art and artists is great fun and it’s akin to admiring an athlete and buying $200 jerseys. Depending on where you hang it, you may have to look at it every day so loving it is essential. I live in a studio apartment so I have no choice but to love everything I buy and over the last 10 years, I’ve collected over 75 pieces by 60 different artists. No doubt the overall value of my collection eclipses the total spent, but that’s strictly due to the fact I got lucky with a few key pieces and seriously, who the fuck knows? I’m never going to sell any of the pieces anyway.
Plenty of galleries sell art in the $2,500 – $10,000 range. That’s not for me. I can’t afford that. Yet. I’d love to, but my goal isn’t to support mid-career artists well on their way to tenure at the UCLA New Media Department. I’m more interested in discovering new artists and supporting them early in their careers. Chances are if you like their work, you’ll like more than one and best of all, they’re affordable. My entire collection was acquired in the $50 – $1,000 range and a few of the artists have gone on to successful careers and the rest are still grinding. Group shows, graffiti galleries, and charity auctions are a great place to start but it’s just best to establish relationships with the artists you admire. They welcome admirers and especially customers.
It’s the thrill of the hunt as it is the haggle and nothing pleases me more than squeezing all the wall space out of all my interiors and replacing it with art.
