Paris With a Parisian

the art market and the middle class: an impossible encounter?

Paris is definitely seen as an art destination. But only a few Parisians buy arts. Could street art change this trend?

Let’s be frank: people do not buy art anymore. At least as they did before. While in the past centuries, anybody with a little money or status would commission artists for portraits and visit art galeries to improve their homes, how many people do you know around you that actually buy contemporary art? Not many…

Of course, Paris is packed with art galleries. Le Carré Saint Germain or l’Avenue Matignon area offer an endless flow of art galleries. But once you enter, you quickly notice that you will need to win the lottery twice to afford one of the big names they display. We, the people, are not the target of these galleries. So where to go to buy art?

Because we do love art. It’s just that buying art is no longer in our culture. Posters and antiques will ornate your walls, but the mere idea of acquiring contemporary art doesn’t come to most of us. We see it in art exhibition, huge art installations that sure won’t fit in our little Parisian flats, and that only companies and state  organizations can afford. We praise street art, we take pictures and download them right away on facebook, yet we never think of getting street art inside our homes.

I tend to think that this tendency might change, because the art scene is striking back. Not only with the Affordable Art Fairs, which offers a quality event with pieces that never exceeds 5000€ and conveys the idea of an art market you can be part of. But in Paris, we don’t have any Affordable Art Fair yet…
The art scene is striking back with street art. More and more smaller galleries open, presenting famous and less famous street artists, with classical pieces that you can bring back home. And that could end up restoring the centuries old live story between Parisians and the art market. Just like in the 20s, you can again be an art collector with a regular wage.

Here’s a few art galleries that you might want to check out during your stay for street art and graffiti:

– to start with, le Cabinet d’Amateur, which has offered to host some of my work for their next exhibition -so of course I love them double! They specialize in smaller pieces, mostly drawings, by street artists, with a Cabinet of Curiosities twist to it.

-next, the Galerie Ligne 13 displays pieces and canvas from street artists, and hosts some great exhibitions that are worth the trip to les Batignoles

– la galerie Mathgoth actually sells online (so you can buy now!) some of the finest names in Paris street art and graf scene. They host different exhibitions scattered around the Coty of light

– l’Open Space also gives walls to street artists to sell their pieces, with a taste for graffiti.

All of these galleries could be the new engine of the art market in Paris. Far away from the FIAC and the Art Basel billionnaires (the mere ticket to visit the FIAC is 35€!!), these smaller venues, more creative, are the places where the people that makes Paris colorful can meet the people that enjoy the colors of Paris. And maybe, in a few years, buying art will be big again…

 

Le Cabinet d’Amateur:  www.lecabinetdamateur.com

La galerie Ligne 13: http://galerieligne13paris.blogspot.fr/

Galerie Mathgoth: http://www.mathgoth.com/

l’Open space:  https://fr-fr.facebook.com/Openspaceparis