NADA PRESS
Art's Youth Focus, Metro, May 22, 2006
Art’s youth focus
by michael p. ventura
Like the real estate market, art is hot now. West Chelsea gallery owner Zach Feuer spoke to Metro about buying art and how it’s focused on youth.
How did you get into this business?
I started this gallery by accident. When I was an art student in Boston, I was underwhelmed with the art scene there and thought that I would do something about it. So, when I was 19 or 20, I opened up my apartment to my friends and had them all make work that belonged in domestic spaces — we had a drawer full of jello; people made ice cubes — all things that should be in an apartment. We got press, and people wanted to buy a few things. I got a job in a gallery right after that. And the guy who owned that gallery wanted to open up in New York. We moved here with no money to a tiny space in a fourth-floor walk-up on 26th Street. We struggled there and learned how to be art dealers through trial and error, and through almost going broke daily.
What is NADA?
NADA is the New Art Dealers Alliance. It’s a group of young dealers who got together so we would somehow work together and collaborate and foster a healthy competition as opposed to just trying to kill each other all the time. We have conferences where all the young dealers get together and talk about what they’re learning and how their doing business. We don’t poach each other’s artists; we try and refer each other to collectors and share legal information.
Where are collectors coming from these days?
Well, it’s not really one type. Everyone likes to say it’s the hedge fund guys, but it’s really not. A lot of our collectors are in the entertainment field or in real estate — and there are the hedge fund people — but collectors are from all walks of life, all budgets.
Is art a good financial investment?
You have to go with your gut when you’re buying art, and, a lot of times, your gut is going to be different than what the market accepts. If you’re going to have a genuine collection, it’s not going to be the trendy artists or the artists who are going to appreciate in value commercially. Most pieces we sell we hope they’re selling to someone who really loves them and is going to keep them for their whole lives.
Is there an “art bubble”?
There can only be a bubble if you’re speculating. If you’re collecting art because you care about art, you’re going to be fine. Certainly the expansion and growth of the art market has been amazing and a little bit scary. I’m not sure it can sustain this growth, but hopefully it will.
How does someone who doesn’t have a lot of money collect art?
If you’re just interested in getting into it, you just have to do a lot of research. You find out what you like, you ask the prices. It’s also all right to walk into a gallery and say, “I have $1,500 to spend. Do you have anything in my price range?” And a lot of galleries will say “yes.”
What role do young people have in the art world?
The art world has become almost incorrectly proportioned that it is really youth-oriented now. A lot of times, you will see a younger artist’s prices be higher than an artist who’s been working for 20-30 years, and that happens, I think, because of speculation and people wanting to buy future instead of to buy a piece of art that’s right in front of them and an artist that they’re supporting. And it’s the same with dealers. People love young dealers, young collectors, young critics. It’s so youth-oriented — a 25-year-old will have a much easier time entering the art world than a 50-year-old, which is really a shame because a lot gets overlooked and a lot of youth that enters in becomes old and spit out very quickly. If you’re a young person, you should not be intimidated about trying to enter the art world.