Starting a Collection on the Cheap

You haunt gallery openings and art fairs, and you’re eager to get some art on your own walls. Unfortunately, you’re on a tight budget — not an art collectors’ “budget” of several thousand (or million!) dollars, but a regular Joe’s couple hundred bucks — and your taste is more Bacon or Banksy than Bed Bath & Beyond. What to do? You could save up for years to buy one expensive piece, or you could start small right now, collecting carefully selected, affordable works.

The Affordable Art Fair, running June 12–15 in New York, offers a place to start, with an unintimidating atmosphere and more than 70 international galleries offering pieces priced as low as $100. But even if you miss the fair, you can still surround yourself with cheap art that appears to be anything but. According to the art-world insiders ARTINFO chatted up, you just have to know where to look.

Here are some of their most useful tips and lots of places to start your search:

Thinking Outside the (White) Box
To start, “try to visit alternative art spaces and galleries that aren’t in Chelsea,” recommends Tricia Wimmer, co-founder of the Brooklyn-based Pink Elephant Projects gallery.

Some of the coolest finds and best prices will turn up where you might least expect. Pink Elephant Projects, for example, offers limited edition prints as low as $30. But to find them you’ll have to go where few galleries have gone before: the Clinton/Washington stop on the G train in the Clinton Hill neighborhood.

“We’re not about selling art in a museum setting or on white-box gallery walls,” Wimmer says. “We’re committed to showing underrepresented artists and giving people a hands-on experience of seeing art.”

You’re more likely to find bargains by frequenting dealers committed to supporting newer artists, a goal that goes hand-in-hand with off-the-beaten-path galleries. Small art blogs and Web sites with the same aim, such as Etsy.com, are also good places to look.

“It doesn’t have to cost $100,000 to be good,” says Rob Kalin, founder of Etsy, a site offering hundreds of thousands of artworks and other handmade items, many with a price tag of less than $100. “Our big goal is to enable people to make a living making things. There are probably artists on the site whose work will be very collectible in 10 years, but it’s more about what art should be about: surrounding yourself with work that you want to see and experience in your everyday life. It’s great to know you’re supporting the artists, too.”

Start Small
Another point to consider: Bigger isn’t always better. Smaller-scale artworks tend to make less of a dent in the wallet, but can still pack a punch on your wall.

“If you really like an artist, but the bigger pieces you see are out of your range, ask if there are any smaller works available,” says Cris McCall, director of the Hollywood, California-based Tinlark gallery, which specializes in affordable art and offers lots of diminutive pieces.

Says Wimmer, “Even a small original piece speaks louder than a giant poster from Target over the couch.”

Buy Direct
Of course, some of the best prices can be had by going straight to the source. Get to know the artist, and you’re more likely to get a deal, too.

“Find art walks and open studio events in your area where you’ll have the chance to meet artists and buy directly from them,” McCall says.

She also recommends MFA shows and school Web sites. “Graduating artists are affordable and keen to sell their work,” she says. “If you see a piece you like, call the school—they should be happy to pass along your information to the artist.”

Here are some other places to start building your collection:

The Affordable Art Fair, June 12-15
The Altman Building/Metropolitan Pavilion, 135 West 18th Street, Manhattan
aafnyc.com
The Affordable Art Fair runs in six cities throughout the year, but this is your only chance to catch it in the United States — other locations are Bristol, London, Sydney, Melbourne, and Amsterdam. The New York fair includes galleries from the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and South America, and lots of original artworks, many with price tags that won’t make you hyperventilate. It’s also a good place to familiarize yourself with a wide range of contemporary artists and dealers.