San Francisco isn't much of an art buying town. Art creating? Yes. Art appreciating? Certainly. Art buying? Not so much. If an artist wants to make a career of it, the sad fact is that they have to leave the Bay Area, and head to one of the big art cities: New York, LA, Chicago, or Miami. San Francisco runs a distant (and depressing) 5th.As unfortunate as that may be, it shouldn't be too surprising, really ... more than anything, San Francisco has a storied tradition of bleeding edge creativity, rugged entrepreneurship, and flying in the face of the norm ... oftentimes swinging wildly at it. Our strength is thus in underground and emerging artists who aren't aiming at the mainstream unless they're doing so through a set of crosshairs.
When that's combined with the laid-back attitude and studied casualness for which the Bay Area is known, it can be understood why audacious spending on a scale commensurate with serious art collection just doesn't happen here. San Franciscans value one another more for what they create than the price tag of the art they hang on their walls.What the Bay Area needs is an innovative structure for its art market that takes this reality into account, and works with it -- augmenting its strengths and offsetting its weaknesses -- to enable Bay Area artists to make a semblance of a living creating exactly the art they want to create, without having to compromise their vision. Otherwise, artists whose work deserves to be seen, and whose voices need to be heard, will forever while away their days as your neighborhood barista.
I'd like to see this new market become a reality, and to that end, I've been curating art exhibitions for a variety of events featuring an eclectic mix of emerging artists, styles and media. The most recent was part of False Profit's Alchemy, an interactive art event at San Francisco's CELLspace. It hosted over 600 attendees, all of whom seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves as they took part in the various interactive aspects of the evening. The gallery featured a variety of oil paintings, pen and ink drawings, photography, collage, print-making, sculpture (works in steel, vinyl and cement), video, and an interactive site-specific installation. The represented artists ranged in age from 21 to 50+.
It was great working with the smart, driven folks at False Profit, and to have the opportunity to exhibit a strong showing of emerging artists to an appreciative crowd. Now ... to just get that crowd to put their money where their appreciation is ....
1 comment:
As an artist this post of yours was insightful, bringing attention to the eternal problem everywhere. I like the idea of interactive art shows, but I am not sure that is the answer when it comes to inspiring the 'art lover' or 'art player" in the case to want to buy art. I have always felt that art shows are boring to the non artist, after the first half hour. I don't have the answer of course.. da! But... I am reminded of a frustration I had many years ago now. I was doing art in action, a sculpture at a Renaissance Fair. At one point I saw a little boy looking bored. I cut off a small piece of clay, coaxed him to me and showed him how to sculpt a face. A crowd began to gather, intrigued, that a little boy around 10 years old, could actually do a sculpture with a few tips. As the tiny head was complete the whole crowd went, "AHHH!" It was a wonderful moment, causing the little boy to shine in his 'own' eyes. I was thrilled by that of course. Thereafter I showed businessmen, bored housewives and of course children, the tricks of creating a little head, planting seeds of creativity. The glaring question though after the crowd went, "AHHH" was 'will they buy?'. I had only $1K plus sculptures that day in a 1 dollar crowd. The 'appreciation' of art had been planted in a few though, so that was/is a start. Considering the boring factor of art shows, I think that art should bring in ALL of the senses to be effective. Interaction between the artist and the unknowing buyer, hooked by the mood of the moment that the artist signed their piece and stood back to reach a certain resolve. Artist create to music, I personally dance around as I paint. I like to work in my kitchen, creating yummy smells, in between splashed of paint or moving clay between my fingers. The dream of art arises as I consider a story past the one I am living in, and touch the hand of god there. I am wondering... IF it is possible for an art exhibition to bring a patron to that place. It is a lot like the experience with the little boy. I am only suggesting a beginning of thought, not the plan. Perhaps my thoughts on this seem far from provocative and elementary. I only know that art shows can be boring at times and there must be a way of delivering the magic, that prompts a potential patron to want to take a 'piece of emotion' home with them.
Kathy Ostman-Magnusen
Free Art: http://www.kathysart.com
Primal Series:
http://www.kathyostman-magnusen.com
Represented by:
Monkdogz Urban Art, New York
http://www.monkdogz.com
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