Art Hound

We have a tendency in the blogosphere to get so caught up in uncovering the latest and greatest that we sometimes fail to adequately address the fundamentals. In the spirit of avoiding this pitfall, I’m going back to the basics in this post, specifically addressing the question of where to look for art.

There is both good and bad news when it comes to looking for art. The bad news is that there is no catch-all marketplace, no amazon.com or itunes. (You can argue this is actually a good thing, too.) Instead the art market is extremely fragmented and most art purveyors, both online and brick-and-mortar, have little visibility beyond their immediate community. Plus, because not everyone is interested in art, you can’t simply ask your neighbors where they bought their art (unless you have really cool, artsy neighbors!). Therefore, finding good resources on art can be difficult and time-consuming. The good news is that there is no lack of amazing resources on art for you to tap into. The hurdle is simply knowing where to look.

I’ve compiled my best resources for researching and buying art by category:

1. Online marketplaces

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Etsy alone has 10,000’s of listings under ‘Art.’ Online marketplaces offer tons of options and bookmarking, browsing friends’ favorites and other tools can help make the sorting process manageable.

Etsy, Big Cartel, papernstitch, Poppytalk Handmade, Renegade Handmade, Supermarket, 1000 markets.

2. Online galleries

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Some of these are dedicated online galleries, meaning they don’t have a dedicated physical space, and others are brick and mortar galleries that also sell their art through their websites.

the beholder, Circuit Gallery, The Enormous Tiny Art Show, Giant Robot, Junc Gallery, LeBasse Projects, Magic Pony, Sebastian Foster, The Shiny Squirrel, Soma Gallery, Thinkspace, Walker Contemporary.

3. Art blogs

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art milk, Art Splash, BOOOOOOOM, brown paper bag, dear ada, dept of one, design for mankind, Fecal Face, Jealous Curator, My Love For You, Share Some Candy.

4. Online print shops

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Art Muse, Charmingwall, Keep Calm Gallery, Little Paper Planes, Nucleus, Print Society, Tiny Showcase, The Working Proof, 20 x 200.

5. Local galleries & bookstores

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These are some of my favorites in my home turf, New York City.

Bookstores: Kinokuniya Bookstore, powerHouse Books, Zakka Corp.

Galleries: Cinders Gallery, The Hogar Collection, Jonathan LeVine, Joshua Liner.

6. Art fairs

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Although art fairs can be overwhelming with the sheer amount of art on view, attending one is a fantastic way to see what’s out there and hone in on what you like.

Affordable Art Fair NYC, Next Art Fair, Pulse Contemporary Art Fair, Scope Art Show.

7. Decorating blogs

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Apartment Therapy, decor8, Design Sponge, desire to inspire, Lonny, sfgirlbybay.

8. Arty magazines

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Blanket, Juxtapoz, N.E.E.T., PaperMag, Readymade.

9: Artist communities

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flickr, Society 6, Spraygraphic.