My name is Pedro and I am an addict. My parents were addicts. Most of my friends are addicts. We share the same addiction for we are all afflicted with an incurable disease—we collect art.
Is hype necessary to sell art? The decision to buy art falls within the realm of desire, not necessity. An addict seemingly buys out of necessity but the reality is, taking the power to buy away from an addict won’t kill him.
My advice to new collectors is always to buy what they like. As most, however, still have to establish their taste, they tend to fall prey to influence and hype.
New art collectors have different motivations to buy art: some buy to decorate a particular space; others aspire to be within the perceived “in” crowd; many speculate on art as a form of a alternative investment, particularly in this era of excess liquidity.
Most new collectors and even some addicts are drawn to art because of the hype.
by Jeff Koons
mashed up by Fly Art Productions
for The New Standard Sunday Life
In the Marcos era, Madame’s taste reigned supreme. As a results, almost all collectors would patronize the same artists as Madame. The Philippines has always had many talented artists but many suffered for lack of patronage. Thankfully some of them are slowly being discovered due to the emergence of a buoyant secondary market for collectibles. The former First Lady, while still alive and kicking, has stopped buying art. What is the point when she is besieged with raids from the government seizing her giclées (digital facsimiles) of pieces that formed part of her collection?
The Philippines has its share of influential persons who guide collectors.
There’s the most prolific collector who has dozens of disciples or followers. They call themselves the mafia. Those in the gang eagerly follow the advice of their Godfather. This Don is very generous with his advice even to non-gang members and possesses encyclopedic knowledge on masters, contemporary art, and furniture. His monumental collection is eclectic in taste and spans several movements and eras all the way to the current art scene.
Certain gallery owners greatly influence their patrons. Some take an academic approach heavily documenting the curatorial notes on their artists and their works. Others resort to name-dropping names of certain people who have reserved works. Commonly dropped names include: the Godfather and his wife; a young actor (JLC) who is currently amassing a substantial contemporary art collection; a veteran actor along with his actress turned politician wife; and a certain tycoon married to an actress.
The art shows serve to introduce the mainstream market to Art. Art Fair Philippines is on its third canto, presenting contemporary art with a hip vibe and party-like atmosphere. It is our version of the Basel Art Fair with admittedly less hype. Manila Art, which features many of the traditional art galleries, is the older of the shows.
New collectors are also influenced by auction endings. While most don’t subscribe to Art Price, it’s a fairly simple exercise to track whose star is rising. The number of Philippine artists getting record endings is increasing, yet no Philippine artist can still boast the endings of a Jeff Koons.
In the global art scene Jeff Koons is the undisputed king of hype. This has translated to record prices. Whenever his work is discussed I feel like the child in the fairy tale who proclaimed that the Emperor is not wearing any clothes. None of us should be afraid to disregard the hype and focus on buying what we like.