The Destitute Collector

I might be inspired...

2008-08-13T13:01:00.001-04:00

... to start posting on tDC again. I guess this love of blogs goes in phases.

No posting blues...

2006-10-05T16:30:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts here recently. This blog is something I hope to continue in the future, but for now I need to be concentrating on the day job. I will however continue to write about the arts in Indy and around the globe on On the Cusp. Thanks for checking in.

Today's pick

2006-06-14T14:14:00.000-04:00

So how do you get a Katharina Gross for 300 Euros? Go to this site of course. Gross has designed 100 unique skateboard decks for Mekanism in Paris. Each is unique and each is signed and numbered. More details can be found here.

It's about time...

2006-06-07T08:28:00.000-04:00

It's about time someone else recognized the greatness that is Lee Walton. Go check out the always smart Paddy Johnson at Art Fag City. You can check out my original post here.

*** Update - even more Lee Walton fans over at MTAA. Just scroll down to see a few posts on Lee.

What can you get for $5000?

2006-05-07T22:36:00.000-04:00

I've been following this series on Artinfo that tracks a virgin art collector through New York in search of art and on a $5000 budget. Part I has him looking uptown. In Part II he is learning about prints. Part III is a day in Chelsea. Finally, Part IV has him in SoHo. Future episodes promise a purchase. It's an interesting read at the beginning stages of what has turned into an obsession for so many of us.

Part of me wants to try this approach. I tend to find something I love and then figure out how I can afford it (meaning what discount and payment plan will the gallery offer). I have never gone out with x amount of dollars knowing that I would make a purchase soon. To me that kind of feels like just decorating, but that's how many people start and I'm interested to find out what ends up on his wall.

The collectors just keep rolling in...

2006-04-13T13:07:00.000-04:00

I'm adding a few links to some other bloggers that too, experience the joy of collecting and don't mind sharing it with you fine people. I am happy to report that I have yet to find anyone else with a mismatched pack of cigarettes packaged in plexi - that's all mine suckers!!!

The I wish I would have thought of that award goes to...

Erik Schneider and his View From the Edge of the Universe because of his Best Buys on the Web section

The I'm glad he doesn't talk too much about a bunch of legal crap award goes to...

Steve Roach and The Art of Law

The I left New York and now I have to speak French award goes to...

Lisa Hunter and The Intrepid Art Collector (this begs the question, can one be an intrepid collector and a destitute collector at the same time? I believe Lisa and I would both say an emphatic YES)

My latest acquisition...

2006-04-11T22:34:00.000-04:00

Studebaker, Gran Turismo Hawk GT Coupe, 1962, Steel, bright red leather, white walls and a 289 V8

To the four loyal readers of my cherished blog, you might be upset that I would include something that departs from my more traditional contemporary art posts. The fact remains that before I would have ever wept in front of a Cezanne, I drooled over automobiles. There have been times when museums have often tried to bow to the wants of the Proletariate, but this has often been met with harsh criticism by the hardcore art aficionados. This has never been my position.

Wonderful designers such as Pininfarina actually introduced me to aesthetics before I could pronounce the word, and I owe as much to them as the wonderful art history professors I had in the past for getting me to this point in my life.

There is no reason why art can't permeate every aspect of our lives. And if you ever see me pulling into Bonge's Tavern or the Chatterbox in the old Stude, please stop by and say hi.

Lee Walton - Conceptually Brilliant

2006-04-04T22:14:00.000-04:00

Lee Walton, Bummed Pack, 2004, Gift of the Artist

I consider Lee Walton not only a great friend, but one of the most brilliant artists I have ever met. Think Tino Sehgal meets pop culture. And I mean think about it seriously. Tino Sehgal is one of the most talked about artists of the past two years amongst the art community, and Lee takes away all of the art pretense of Tino (who I think is brilliant by the way) and relates his work not just to the art aficionado, but to the common man. Ok, I'll say it: Cattelan, Sehgal, Walton - 3 of my favorites.

Bummed Pack, was made for and unbeknownst to me, while Lee was visiting. I am an avid smoker (hopefully not for long) and Lee is a non-smoker. While here for a few days, Lee "bummed" an entire pack of cigarettes from random people on the streets of Indy, packaged it in plexi, signed it and sent it priority mail as a surprise. As I'm sure this was not his intention, I think i partly continue to smoke because I am afraid a nic-fit will cause me to sneak into my secret stash. Believe me, that will never happen.

Lee is an avid sports fan. I almost hate to even mention that because when sport is mentioned along with art one often thinks of the cheesy covers of programs from NBA games and collegiate events. Lee takes it to another level. He has equated entire baseball games to instructions for drawings and performances, he has played an entire round of golf shooting one shot per day, and he has linked chess moves to symphonic performances. Tough to explain in words but visit his website and you will see what I mean.

Lee is brilliant. White Columns knows it, Art in General knows it, Reykjavik Art Museum knows it, the Berkeley Art Museum knows it, along with countless others. Soon, I think the whole world will know it too.

Marilyn Minter

2006-03-29T08:44:00.000-05:00

Creative Time has this signed limited edition (edition of 100) print by Marilyn Minter available for $500 (thanks MAO for the scoop). I am late in the game in posting this and it's already sold out so don't be mad at me if you're seeing this for the first time. I also did not buy it even though she was one of my favorite artists in this years WB.

In part, I may be buying a house soon, but I think it's more that I don't want a print of a photorealistic painting. I think I'd rather have a photograph. Sure I need to become more familiar with her work, but what impressed me most (other than the obvious talent) was the scale and the impact they have on the viewer. I think that would be lost in a 11" x 14" print. All that being said, if someone has bought me this as a present, I will still gladly hang it on my wall.

UPDATE: After discussing Marilyn's work and print making in general with my friend Scott, he made a really good point. Isn't it more important when considering a print or an edition that the piece be made specifically as a reproduction? Take my Spencer Finch below. Commissioned by Cabinet Magazine and is unique in it's format, as opposed to Marilyn's print which is just a reproduction of an existing painting. Yeah, you got it Scott.

Spencer Finch

2006-03-21T11:47:00.000-05:00

Spencer Finch. Moonlight (Luna County, Mexico, July 13, 2003. 2004. Edition of 100.

Snowed in for a couple of hours this morning so I thought I might add a much delayed post (have you noticed how happy the weathermen are when they are actually correct? Chuck Loftin was jumping around like a little school girl this morning!)

I will start by saying this was an impulse purchase. When I buy editions, I usually trying to keep them small, like 3 to 5. This was produced in an edition of 100 but after following Spencer Finch's work for some time, I immediately jumped on this opportunity. My good friend Rowly Kennerk from Chicago called me one afternoon and said that he and his wife had just purchased one and wanted to make sure I knew about it. I in turn made a couple of calls to people who also purchased this edition, and all of a sudden, the Midwest had a lot of little Finch's heading it's way.

Finch's work is centrally concerned with the connection between light and memory. This piece was designed to duplicate the light at sunset from Luna County, New Mexico on July 13, 2003. It was inspired on a trip the artist took with Cabinet Magazine to visit some property the magazine had purchased in New Mexico, and was then produced as a benefit piece for the publication. Finch's large installations often sell for $50 - $75k (and I'm sure even higher for other installations) and I'm very happy to say this piece was under $1000. Certainly it's not as all-encompasing or awe-inspiring as his large pieces, but sitting in my small apartment with a hot tea or red wine, it is completely soothing and can take me away from everyday stresses.

Finch's work was included in the 2004 Whitney Biennial and for the Midwesterners, he will have a solo show at Rhona Hoffman Gallery in Chicago opening April 28th.

Dream - Katharina Grosse

2006-03-06T15:37:00.000-05:00

When I win the lottery and design my new loft, there will be a room dedicated to an installation Katharina Grosse (not a very easy site to navigate). There are also great images in Vitamin P. She spoke last year at Solvent Space (which I was unable to attend) but found a couple of blog reviews here and here.

On the left is her first spray corner piece she did for a museum show in Switzerland in 1998. Her work continues to grow and take over not only corners but doors, windows, ceilings, floors.

Hopefully someone will bring her work to the midwest soon. Maybe she's shown somewhere around here but I have not seen it.

Her all encompassing environments are awe-inspiring. I'm not as crazy when she paints directly on earth or other materials, I think the work is more succesful when she is responding to architecture instead of more natural environments, but that's just me.

Kimberly Austin

2006-03-01T23:16:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't want a piece about why boys shouldn't masturbate hanging above their bed? The artist is Kimberly Austin. Another poor installation shot by me, I apologize. Click on her name, and although there is no picture of my piece on her site (damn her because I bought the best one), you'll get the idea. And if her name sounds familiar, she was indeed the subject of the song "Kimberly Austin" by Porno for Pyros (Perry Farrell's follow up to Jane's Addiction) back in the 90s, although I had no knowledge of it at the time and it did not influence my purchase - but I like the song so it's nice to know.

This was purchased in November of 2000 at Braunstein/Quay Gallery in San Francisco's fashionable SOMA district (also where I lived). Van dyke print on watercolor paper and vellum mounted on wood. Edition of 3. If I remember correctly, this was in the $2500 - $3000 range and yes, I was given a generous payment plan. Thanks again Ruth. Kim has shown pretty extensively in California and in Germany. Her work is really strong and she is so sweet, she's bound to catch on soon.

The text on the middle panel reads, "Grand is the boy who has kept himself undefiled! His complexion is clear, his muscles are firm, his courage is undaunted, and his self control is perfect." Now do you understand why this needs to be in the bedroom? I love it! Of course I'm still single, so maybe it's weird. I don't care, it's staying up!

The saying was taking from an early 20th century book of manners for boys and girls. The doll images were also taken from an old archive. This too, was a very early addition to my collection but I am pretty confident it will remain there for quite a long time.

Missed Opportunity - Barry McGee

2006-02-24T20:19:00.000-05:00

This work kind of crosses the boundaries between missed opportunity and dream. Depending on how I walked to work each day, I could walk by two or three Barry McGee's each way. When I was there he was just hitting the international radar, Deitch had yet to show him, and his graffiti was still everywhere. And this was way before there was concern about destroying his public installations.

We talked about steeling an image and trying to take it off of a building/billboard. Of course we never did. His small installations of his paintings on discarded liquor bottles were still really cheap. His, along with his wife Margaret Kilgallon, work would still show up at small benefit auctions for wonderful little non-profit orgs like SoEx or The San Francisco Art Institute where he did his undergrad.

At the time, $1000 seemed like a million but of course I'm now kicking myself for not making the sacrifices. And if I currently had millions, his work would be near the top of the list as to what I would want to buy. He not only inspired a generation of west coast and now international artists, but continues to be at the top of his field, all while ignoring the art star mentality. From what I've heard (I've only met him in passing), he is an amazingly nice person, I only wish his gallerists would allow him to be more approachable.

My First Purchase by Nelly

2006-02-22T17:26:00.000-05:00

1998. Antibes, France. Artist - Nelly. Acrylic/oil(?) on paper. Bought while backpacking along the Riviera. Image size 5 1/2" x 6". Price - around $100-$150 US if I remember correctly. Signed and personalized to me on back.

I should first point out and it will soon become obvious that I am a terrible photographer and don't have photoshop. That being said, above is the first piece of orginal artwork I ever purchased. Don't worry, the collection gets a little more exciting, but I do still like this piece. It's the only piece of abstract painting that I own and I'm pretty sure that for sentimental reasons, this piece will always be in my collection.

The time was 1998 and I was on a few year break from school. It was during these travels that I discovered my love for art but had no idea what was in store. This piece was purchased out of the artist's studio/gallery in a pretty touristy part of the city. I believe she also kept a studio in Brussels. Framed in plexi and wrapped in bubble wrap, I carried this piece by hand all over Europe for about two months.

I don't suppose anyone has any additional information on the artist???

2006-02-21T19:21:00.000-05:00

In an attempt to answer Mr. Edward Winkleman's challenge, I will make public my very humble collection of contemporary work amassed over the past 6 years or so. First, a little background on me...

Circa early 2000, moved to San Francisco where I initially worked for a blue-chip art dealer and made $24,000/year. Don't feel bad, it was the dot-com boom, but I soon learned if I gave up food I could afford rent and even the occasional martini at Blondy's. Learned more at this job from the two art handlers than I did in school or any job since.

Moved to a smaller gallery after less than a year, turned out to be much more commercial than I was interested but it allowed me the opportunity to work very closely with some really talented young artists.

About three years ago, I moved back to the heartland and started working for a new contemporary art museum.

Stuck in the midwest, I've been fortunate enough to travel quite a bit. Obviously numerouse trips to Chicago, New York a few times a year, Art Basel Miami the last few years, as well as the Frieze Fair in London, Art Basel, and the Venice Biennale. I look a lot, but given my current financial situation my collecting must be very focused and only with dealers and artists that provide generous payment plans.

I think it's important to say that until a few weeks ago, I had no couch. I would start a couch fund and then find more art to buy. Yes I'm addicted. Now I have a couch, and it's biggest function serves as an alternative sleeping spot for my dog when she gets tired of my bed.

I thought I would start from the beginning with the first purchase still in my collection and every week or so add to that. This is my story...