OWEN LINDSAY finds four reasons why you should be spending your hard-earned bucks on art

You’ve moved into your new place – borrowed furniture from the ‘rents, bought the Jamie Oliver collection, and finally put your Hardcastle & McCormack collection on proud display (where it belongs). One problem: Your walls are still as white as an albino Irishman.

What you do from here is important – sure, you could slap up a few Pulp Fiction posters, or head down to IKEA for one of those churn-out canvas prints of a bunch of labourers sitting on a girder eating sandwiches. But wouldn’t you rather your new pad be a bit more unique? Wouldn’t it be great if you had something hanging from the wall that made people say AAAHHH!! instead of aahhh? And how about if that wall-hanging was making money by just being there?

Well, ding dong! Welcome to the go-go world of buying art. Yes – that’s right – it’s not just for stuffy-nosed socialites, it’s for you. But why should you splash cash on art? And how do you even do it? We caught up with a bunch of gallery owners and curators to ask them these questions, and find out why buying art is not only good for you – it’s good for Adelaide and the universe in general, too.

Art NANA OHNESORGE
HUGO MICHELL
of Hugo Michell Gallery

Hugo Michell Gallery had won me over within seconds of stepping in the door, when I spotted the painting of a giant German Shepherd standing in front of a bunch of skulls, frankfurters and Hitler (above, by Nana Ohnesorge). Who wouldn’t want that hanging in their house (I mean that utterly without sarcasm)??

The Gallery’s eponymous owner is just as awesome as the art on his gallery’s walls. Hugo’s love for art was fostered during his teens, when every birthday his mum would buy him a painting instead of cricket balls or BMXs (which he may have preferred). But it was moving out of home and having his collection finally put on a wall that turned art into Hugo’s passion. “I think that collecting art is an addiction,” he tells me. “If you have just one beautiful piece in your house rather than a lot of mass-produced prints, you’ll get so many comments on it and you’ll enjoy living with it so much that you’ll want to get another one.”

While recognising that investment is definitely a sweetener for those in the art market, Hugo’s underlying philosophy is simple: “First and foremost, always buy what you love. Don’t go out thinking it’s a pure investment.” That said, nobody besides the ten richest Kings of Europe would spend thousands of dollars on art that they knew nothing about. Hugo suggests that before you do enter the art market, you do your research. “Look at who this artist is, where they’ve been showing, if they work hard, and what group shows they are included in,” he says.

Hugo’s also keen to dispel the image of the ‘art world’ as elitist and intimidating. “I think you need to just come and speak to the people working in galleries. Because we love that! And it’s not even just about buying art, it’s about coming in and seeing the works.”

 
Art BRIGID NOONE
BRIGID NOONE
of FELTspace

As a partially government-funded gallery, FELTspace has one trick up its sleeve that a lot of galleries don’t: it can afford to be purely about the art, no matter how esoteric. I found this out very soon into my conversation with Brigid Noone, one of the co-directors of FELT, when I asked if saleability comes into which artists they choose to exhibit. “No!” she says, “and what’s interesting is that I have a complete personality split about this sometimes. When I went to art school, it was kind of bad to sell work. It’s a fine line between finding your own integrity as an artist and dealing with the idea of ‘selling out’ imposed by institutions and the art world.”

More than being on the committee at FELT, Brigid’s first and foremost an artist. Naturally, Brigid’s thoughts on why buying art is a good thing gravitate towards the fact that spending money on art means that you’re supporting those producing the works. Without people finding art that they personally connect with and buying it, we’d be stuck in an Adelaide full of cold impersonal ‘art’ that is like another piece of furniture.

In commercial galleries the pressure for an artist to sell can be overwhelming. But for Brigid, the main advantage of FELTspace is that this pressure doesn’t exist. “If (artists) make money from doing what you love, that’s fantastic. But the other side is (artists) shouldn’t be under pressure to sell. So FELT gives artists a space to work on their practice and not have the pressure of making money.”

I ask Brigid what she thinks of those who buy art purely for the investment. She replies without skipping a beat: “Well I had one person come to one of my exhibitions a few years ago and ask me if my work was a good investment! And I said: well, do you like it? It just shocked me that he was looking to buy art that was a good investment and not something that he connected with”.

Art TAMMY WHITWORTH
TONY BOND
of Gallery 139 / AP Bond

The idea for Gallery 139 arose after Tony Bond noticed that there were a lot of promising young artists exhibiting in a lot of terrible, terrible locations around Adelaide. “I just thought: there is an opening for a gallery that deals in emerging artists,” he says. The process for selecting the artists who exhibit at 139 is a pinch. “I go through a mental process and ask: would I have it on my wall at home?” says Tony.

Tony believes that the reason people buy art is to do with some deep reptilian corner of the brain. “There must be some primal urge about it, to surround yourself with nice things. It enriches a part of you somewhere, and you can get comfort from it,” he says. “But on the more practical side –people do buy as an investment.” As a gallery specialising in emerging artists, 139 is a prime location for investors to snap up works by the big names of the future. Artists such as Will Nolan, Eleanor Zecchin, Shane “Dream Team” Devries (I just made up that nickname then) and Thom Buchanan are at the early stages of what promises to be successful and prolific careers.

There are a few tips Tony has up his sleeve for anyone looking to get started in the art market. “Everyone’s after deals,” he says. “On opening night, I don’t think you can haggle. But afterwards, sure, ask for best price. I can think of some galleries that’ll tell you to fuck off – but most would do you a deal.

“The other tip is that if you pick an artist that you like, just contact the gallery outside of when they’re exhibiting, just ask – for example, ‘Do you have any Rohan Frasers?’ – because we might have some stuff that’s been put aside, or stuff left over, or fresh work that’s just come in.”

Art DRILLER JET ARMSTRONG
STEPHEN & EMMA
of Max Dawn Gallery

Buying a piece of art for your wall can be an important step in becoming what in our parents’ day was called a proper adult – after all, it’s not something kids usually do. “A Pulp Fiction poster is great for a teenager’s bedroom,” says Stephen of Max Dawn Gallery. “(But) if you have any style you will want to buy original art. Art is far more personal than any generic poster. Art is much more fun to buy.”

It’s this philosophy that underlies what gets the stamp of approval from Stephen and Emma at Max Dawn. Both artists themselves working across a range of mediums (Stephen: “my practice currently revolves around making noise for video art”), they encourage their artists to be experimental with their work. As if to prove the point, on the day of the interview the pair had just finished hanging Driller Jet Armstrong’s latest exhibition of Daubist work (above), which (if you’re a true Merge fan) you’ll recall was so controversial it forced changes in moral rights legislation by the Federal Government in 2000.

It’s this ability of art to cause strong reactions that Stephen & Emma think makes it worthwhile to have stuck on your wall. “Art is a mood affector, it can change your environment, it can challenge your perceptions and create discussions,” Emma says. “These are all good reasons to buy art.” As for those wanting to head face-first into the world of art buying, their philosophy mirrors Hugo Michell’s: always make sure you love what you buy.

Aside from that fundamental, they have a few other tips. When you’re looking out for that one piece to start off your collection, you should start by getting on mailing lists of galleries and going to see exhibitions, Stephen says. “Look for artists with staying power, those who are showing in good galleries and are regularly showing. Ask the gallerist for information on work you like, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.”

Photos AARON SCHUPPAN & HARMONY NICHOLAS