Occams Thoughts: Collecting Art

Hello.  How have you been?  Well, I hope.  I want to share with you a bit of the collector side of myself.  See, I am a visual creature.  My memory mainly consists of a series of pictures.  For example, I am awful at giving directions because all the roads and paths in my head are pictures, like a slide show.  Driving there is a breeze but directing someone is really difficult when you tell them to “take a left but that oak tree that looks like it came from a Tim Burton movie”.  I have turned my visual mind into a career.  I got a job in an art gallery.  I install art exhibits and make sure art stays safe and happy and lovely.  It’s a pretty neat job.  However, as I can’t create visual art for shit, I try to support and collect from those who can.

That leads me to this blog.  I wanted to share with y’all some of the galleries and websites I have found that collect, curate and sell beautiful prints and original art.   

Bottle Neck Gallery

Bottle Neck is a great gallery for the sheer depth and breadth of the variety of exhibits they put on.  Pretty much name your pop culture passion and there is at least a piece in one of the exhibits, if not an entire exhibit inspired by it.  They offer reasonable prices on prints ($20 - $100) and a few original works that will run you $200 and up.  It’s a great place to start if you are curious about looking for art online from galleries and don’t really know where to start.

Hero Complex Gallery

Another fine example of a gallery that has brought amazingly talented artists together who have a passion for pop culture and the artistic vision to bring that passion to life.  I look at Hero Complex as the complimentary color to Bottle Neck.  The prices here run a wee bit higher ($30 - $50) but for the quality of print you will receive this is worth it.  I just ordered a print from these guys and I can’t tell you how impressed I am.  What you see on the screen doesn’t do justice to the real thing hanging on your wall.

Geek Art Site and Store

Geek Art is this incredible combination of blog that shows off some of the coolest art related to general geekdom from all over the internet and this store that sells prints.  Now these prints…lordy, these prints.  These are some of my favorite video game prints out there.  Now, the rub is that Geek Art is based out of France.  So shipping to the states can get fairly prohibitive.  Regardless though, take a gander at the lovely stuff and feel the beauty.

Boomslank

This was a recent discovery for me and what the site lacks in variety of prints it more than makes up for in price ($20) and detail.  These are like scenes straight out of an anime with all the detail and crispness I would expect from a Blu Ray.  Something like this would make a great Christmas present for the anime fan in your world.  Bonus: Japanator did an article about them!  Go check it out.

Posters and Toys

This site mainly does aftermarket sales of prints and concert posters but without ripping you off.  If you missed a run and don’t want to do the switchblade tango on Ebay, Posters and Toys is a great place to start.  They tend to get stuff from the premier galleries like Mondo out of Austin and don’t jack up the price any more than its current worth.  It’s also fun to browse to see the variety of stuff they carry.

Lastly, I want to share two blogs that I have found to be excellent sources for discovering new artists and finding art prints online.  Xombie Dirge deals mainly with nerdy art, everything from comic book stuff to previews for upcoming exhibits and is a great place to find smaller galleries selling print editions online and individual artists.  Streets of Beige is a bit more modern art-focused but with a vinyl toy/street art bent.  It’s a blast to browse through but beware those vinyl toy prices.  That stuff is delightful but pricey!

So yeah, there's some galleries and a couple of blogs to get you started.  When I first started collecting this stuff, I was blown away by the talent and beauty these artists were producing.  Each new exhibit that goes up is like opening a present on Christmas morning.  Its a visual feast and I'm thrilled to have been able to collect and talk about this art today.  Oh!  Some of these sites have physical space (typically on the East or West coast) so check for an adress and if you live near by, go viist!  A lot of the time the galleries themselves will have prints not available online for a very good price.  

- Sent from my Lisa Frank Dungeon

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