Summer is a busy time in the art world, and I’ve been learning a lot through some personal research and from my clients and colleagues. Specifically, some artists have hit my radar that I’d love to share with you. They’re at different price points, but all under $100k. Some are even available under $20k, which I consider a pretty good deal considering the quality of their works. Although they’re from different backgrounds and their work has its own personality, I believe they are all representative of our time, and have a great sense of humor. Basically, these soon-to-be iconic works are a great steal.
Deborah Roberts
Roberts had an opening at Stephen Friedman Gallery in London with works available at pre-sale to top 200 collectors with prices between $60k-$100k. Her intricate collage and text works explore preteen awkwardness and syncretic nature of black female identity. The images celebrate what it means to contain multitudes.
Roberts (American, b. 1962) is a mixed media artist whose work challenges the notion of ideal beauty. Her work has been exhibited internationally across the USA and Europe. Roberts' work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York; Brooklyn Museum, New York, New York; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York; LACMA, Los Angeles, California; Block Museum of Art, Evanston, Illinois; Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas; Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia; Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey; and The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, New York. Roberts is the recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2016) and Ginsburg-Klaus Award Fellowship (2014). She received her MFA from Syracuse University, New York. She lives and works in Austin, Texas.
“I’m always wondering — why can’t society see us for who we are? If you want to see black people, black girls as this monolithic being, I’m going to reject that. When you look at my work, you have to look at every part of the face and make something out of those fragments. That’s one of the gifts of the work — to see people differently, and not just as one being. Blackness is global.” -Roberts, Jenkins Johnson Gallery Interview
Alvaro Barrington
I first explored his work first at his 2017 exhibition at MoMA PS1, New York. He uses breathtaking colors and I guarantee goose bumps when you see his work. Barrington just curated a show with Julia Peyton-Jones at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac London titled Artists I Steal From and Sadie Holes HQ just showed his work at Basel.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Barrington spent the first eight years of his childhood with his grandmother in Grenada. An underlying theme running through his paintings comes from this experience: paintings that feel like they belong in carnival culture, that give you a sense of time and space. They depict or contemplate on a romanticised Caribbean, one taken from memory and that no longer exists: ‘I mean, it’s that kind of idea of what’s real and when you’re thinking about the Caribbean, it can be anything. It’s your Caribbean.’ Barrington’s multimedia work is a result of his pulling apart of these childhood memories and extracting their materiality. Barrington began to sew as a way to explore historical and cultural references, connecting with his Grenadian aunts, who themselves were masterful sewers. The artist has explored the formal action of sewing as an access point into this otherwise traditionally gendered textile art practice.
“I try to let a painting work itself out over a year to two years. That way I can get the ideas down into the painting. Never try to rush a painting. All the materials are highly selective, and I try to have a conversation with the material as opposed to just using the material or dominating it.” - Barrington, Mousse Magazine Interview
André Butzer
Personally, I am madly in love with his dolls, but Butzer is also an extremely talented abstract painter. I first saw his work at Frieze LA, and became friendly with his LA gallerists. Butzer’s show is currently on view at Metro Pictures in New York through August 9th.
André Butzer was born in 1973 in Stuttgart, Germany, and lives and works in Altadena, California. His work has been the subject of one-person exhibitions at Kestnergesellschaft, Hanover; Kunsthistorisches Museum - CAC Contemporary Art Club at Theseustempel, Vienna; Kunstverein Reutlingen, Germany; and Kunsthalle Nuremberg. It has also been presented in group exhibitions at MOCA, Los Angeles; Sammlung Goetz, Munich; MUMOK, Vienna; Musee d’Art Contemporain de Nimes, France; Museum der Moderne, Salzburg; Rubell Family Collection, Miami; and KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin.
“There's a rule in painting: light has a proportion. Without it, a painting would be proportionless. And it allows you to begin.” -Butzer, Vice Interview
Javier Calleja
Yoshitomo Nara and Kaws lovers are getting in line to get this hot artist. And better yet- his work is still very affordable at $15,000 for small works and $65,000 for his largest pieces. Calleja currently has a show at Galerie Zink in Germany titled Clouds Through the Window, as well as a solo exhibition titled Those Little Things at Dio Horia Art Gallery in Mykonos, Greece through July 24th.
Spanish artist Calleja apprenticed for several years under Japanese pop minimalist Yoshitomo Nara. But where Nara's cartoonish minimalism is tinged with cynicism, Calleja's paintings are imbued with optimism. Having won several awards himself for his impressions of innocence, as well as being the subject of over a dozen solo exhibitions worldwide including five solo museum exhibitions and 22 solo gallery exhibitions in three continents: Aisho/Nanzuka (Hong Kong), Dio Horia Gallery (Mykonos, Greece), Galerie Zink (Waldkirchen, Germany), Nanzuka Gallery (Tokyo), Galería Rafael Pérez Hernando (Madrid), Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Málaga (Spain), Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Burgos (Spain) and Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Alcobendas (Spain).
“My work is a continuous distortion of scale, as if it were from the worlds of Gulliver...” - Calleja, Truck Art Project Interview
Paul Insect
Also known as a street art darling and favorite for collectors. Last month, Allouche Gallery had a pop up show in Paris where they released prints for sale to friends and family only. Although his works on canvas are difficult to find, his prints can be a good investment. (Prints are like stock IPOs!)
British street artist Paul Insect worked with the likes of Banksy and calls Damien Hirst a collector. Insect's sharp-edged images combine all the absurdism of Dada with the sleekness of modernism, yielding surreal renderings that point playfully at the deep dark underbelly of adult life. In the 1990s, Insect became known for his witty stencil and spray painted works, before transitioning to the gallery scene with color-drenched canvases which teetered precariously between tradition and something far more messed up. Never before has chaos been channeled in such clean lines.
“There are two sides to people; the side you want everyone to see, and the side you would rather keep to yourself. Its been a continuing concept through out my work, people hiding their real selves.” -Insect, Juxtapoz Magazine Interview
