How to find art.
Specifically, let’s explore how to find art from emerging and mid-career artists.
This is a question I get asked really frequently. Finding art from emerging artists is hard, time consuming and often feels like luck.
I have been in the arts for a decade so I have a pretty extensive network of artist friends and colleagues, and have my finger on the pulse in terms of new artists entering the industry. However, most people don’t have that kind of time or those connections or frankly enough interest to sift through the thousands and thousands… and thousands of artists.
What you want is to find an emerging artist whose style you like, who speaks to themes you care about, and whose work is energetic on an individual and cultural level.
Here are the three main places I go to find art.
Social Media
My instagram and Pinterest are entirely filled up with artists I am paying attention to. And, you know, some friends and family.
When I scroll, I am encountering artist after artist. Finding good art you resonate with is really time-consuming if you’re doing it alone, there’s no getting around that. But I’ve found that when it’s on a social platform it allows the searching to be somewhat passive and curiosity driven. If I see an artist is showing at a gallery I’ve never heard of and I’m intrigued, I’ll follow that gallery, and the other artists they represent.
If you find an artist you want to buy from and support, look in their bio to see if they are represented by a gallery. If they are, contact the gallery and ask about available pieces by that artist.
Feel free to ask any questions you want. Gallery owners and managers are real people who are obsessed with art, so don’t be intimidated, take up space, ask questions, be blunt, do what you gotta do to get the information you want.
If they are not represented by a gallery look for available work on their website. If you can’t find any, DM them. I strongly recommend buying pieces they’ve already made prior to asking about a commission.
2. Articles & Newsletters
And to a somewhat lesser extent podcasts. This is also a little bit passive, but less so. It’s going to be an interesting read either way, but it is still research and you do need to seek it out. I’ll link a few of my go-to media outlets below.
Again, this is time consuming. You need some patience. And you definitely need discernment. Emerging artists are wonderful because their work is raw and responsive, but challenging because they are often still figuring out their style, and having discernment when sifting through their body of work is critical. I mean look, that’s actually true for highly established, famous artists as well. Some is good some is bad. Some speaks to you some doesn’t.
When you’re getting your leads from other people’s opinions and lenses, you need to be clear on what you want and why. Otherwise you run the risk of ending up with a collection that other people might like but doesn’t actually move you, and what the hell is the point of that. Here is a video I made of one of the easiest practices I use with clients of mine that might be beneficial to you.
3. Local art events
As I said above, having worked in the arts I have an extensive network. But you can too. Attend local events. And you don’t need to keep that strictly to visual arts. Attend small theater and dance. Disciplines cross over and inform one another.
This route is both entertaining and insightful so you really can’t go wrong. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere you probably have a gallery that showcases mid-career artists (unfortunately, galleries rarely feature truly emerging artists, but mid-career is wonderful too). Go to their openings, see what is on display, have a reaction to it.
To find art that you truly connect with takes time and patience and intuition. I strongly recommend you have a strategy in place before you begin. This article explains strategic approaches and guides you in developing your own.
Finding art is actually a pretty small component of what it actually means to be an art collector. I wrote an entire guide for you, you can read that here.
A few accessible newsletters and websites:
And a reminder, that I am an art consultant, and have services specifically designed to support the aspiring art collector. YI invite you to take the first step and fill out an application to work with me.
—Delia
