A Curatorial Perspective
The Purpose of Art by Alya Poplawsky & Katy Bakker , AK Art Consulting
Alya Poplawsky ( left ) and Katy Bakker ( right ), photo by Garrett Cortese
What is the purpose of art ? Members of the art world have been trying to answer this question since the fi rst art history book was published , but in our line of work , we cannot wax eloquent about this philosophical question . Instead , we must give concrete answers to our clients based on their unique situation .
Case 1 : First-time collector , has an excess of money they are looking to invest ; from early 40s to recently retired .
For this client , the purpose of art is not purely aesthetic ; there must be some sort of bottom line . So , when we are asked by our client what the purpose of art is , we talk about art as an investment . It seems so mundane to relegate art to a commodity , but at the end of the day , not all art collectors and art buyers are sitting in an ivory tower with a purely academic interest in art . Our philosophy when working with clients on “ art as investment ” is to educate the client on the artist , technique , style , and message , so that they become “ invested ” in the piece both aesthetically and fi nancially . At this point , we have established the aesthetic value of the work — now , for the fi nancial . When we evaluate a piece for investment potential , the fi rst thing we look at is the artist ’ s CV . There are certain things we consider : education , solo versus group exhibitions , gallery versus museum exhibitions ( and which galleries and museums ). We also look into local and international exhibitions , awards and publications , which collections their works are a part of , and even age . Quite frankly , there have been times when we advised a client not to buy a work because a ) they were not in love with the aesthetics , or b ) the piece was not a sound investment . We have always loved this quote we discovered in a Forbes Magazine article : “ My own advice to collectors is this : if you love it , buy it . If you choose well , one day you will be able to sell it for a profi t . And if you choose very well , you won ’ t want to .”
Case 2 : Corporate Client
Again , what is the purpose of art ? For a corporate client , the purpose of the artwork is to engage a new audience , build and foster ties with the local community , incorporate their branding in a unique way , create a positive work atmosphere , and inspire creativity in their employees . As they buy art for these reasons , they start to create a corporate art collection that could potentially be an infl uence in the art world . When working with a corporate client , we are working with a committee of people — each trying not to put their own taste into the mix , but failing miserably to stay objective . We are working with design teams , marketing , PR , and executive management . The budget is ever-changing and often unclear , but we have to make sure to
photo by Patricia Lois Nuss
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