A brief kidnapped Decalogue for those who want to approach today’s contemporary art
I would like to talk about something that is important to many! Contemporary art in our life … there is a lot of talk here and there, but many do not know how to move, they ask me how to buy, where to go, what to see … and then it occurred to me to give you some profane suggestions that these waters for only two decades. The first thing that comes to mind is turn, turn, turn, see as much as possible with your eyes … interest in life is everything. Contemporary Art personally gives me lightness of being, beauty, love, intensity, fills my heart and gives me emotions that I live from time to time. I have the privilege of seeing artists at work, a great opportunity for a few. Through my work as a curator I try to make known and promote art to the general public and I want to create an approach to art, because I believe it is really a common good and becomes a tool that can help us to understand the contemporary world. Art transmits the lived moment to us and brings us reflections. Art is the beauty of our life and I believe it is an added value for everyone, which is why it is right to spread it.
Art must continue to speak beyond systems in the world, but it is often enclosed in a box, forced, isolated for a few.
Let’s dive now into the beauty of Contemporary Art today, as we said in recent times it has been much discussed and studied in various fields from the purely economic, investment, to the psychological. An international study created by the American researcher Harold J. Dupuy connects psychophysical health with art. The result is surprising, it tells us that living in the beautiful, watching works of art helps people to feel better and feel like protagonists rather than just spectators. Contemplating a work of art we release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood. So going back to what I wrote initially browse and admire the art, it will certainly do you good. The Opera d’Arte gives us regardless and gives us so much happiness.
Today I would say that the beauty of Contemporary Art provokes emotions and is capable of acting on our soul. The work of art produces harmony and well-being in all senses, arouses positive feelings and makes us observe life from other points of view. Contemporary art gives us that added value, because it shows us a passage on earth, that’s why we need more contemporary art in our homes and in our lives, besides, art and beauty are always safe investments and the market of art is always specialized, the secret is curiosity and perseverance.
Today, how to approach contemporary art? Some advice about it …
1- Watch, turn, admire and browse:
Only by attending the art world can one understand how his mechanisms work. You can learn to know and refine your taste, and to identify and buy with awareness those artists and the works that touch us the most. Contact with the artists is very important especially to get to know their work. The important thing is not to be in a hurry and to focus on original and quality works. The passion for art is fundamental for our life.
2-Tips on where to see contemporary art …
To get an idea on the art market it is important to go around, go to exhibitions and also follow the Art Fairs for example in Italy: ArteFiera and Setup in Bologna (January) The Others and Artissima in Turin (November), Miart of Milan (May) ArtVerona (October), Mia (Milan) exists for photography. To have an international eye on the world of art today, it’s perfect to go to see La Biennale di Venezia or Art Basel (Basel and Miami) if you want to aim higher. We talk about art and know how to live in the most practical sense, we must learn from art and not put it on one side, but admire it every day.
3 – In our life we need Art:
Through art we learn to establish positive relationships, it helps us to live better, to find serenity, to overcome anxieties and fears. Not just to contemplate beauty, but also to improve our lives. In this globalized world, we seek our center every day, our balance and it is easier through art because it gives us that added value to life. Man, through art, goes in search of himself and of the interpretation of the world with his beauties and his criticisms. Today beauty and art are also tools used by communication.
4- Art is creativity: It makes us better approach to art, leads us to success and improves our lives, helps us to be happier, even creating a future investment. Art liberates our creativity: Creativity has no age. Art and creativity bring young and old together on the same common road.
5- See exhibitions: going to see exhibitions at the museum or in galleries or in alternative spaces makes us better, trains our visual sense. Looking at a work of art, the skills of analysis and critical sense are enriched. The more exhibits you see, the easier it is to understand contemporary art.
6 – Some Good Rules of Art:
– To rely on an experienced staff who recommend a work and who has been working in the field for years, as it is not easy to venture into the art world without having an excellent knowledge of the subject.
– Follow the instructions of curators, critics or gallery owners to understand how an artist is known. Look for quality works, in perfect condition and with a well-defined history.
– Pay attention to exhibitions, especially museum and continuous over time. Important are the publications: if the author has been published in the catalog the value of his works is greater.
– Have tunnels, not all in the same city as possible, that we make reference that will follow you with more attention.
7 -How to start collecting works of art:
All collectors have been such since they started their first purchase. The greatest collectors always started with small purchases. This is a piece of advice to keep in mind. The large financial resources are not the only determining factor to start collecting art. In these difficult and uncertain times it is possible to think of dedicating yourself to collecting in art, starting from small and short.
8 -Art is a future investment:
An investment both from a social, cultural and personal point of view. First of all in front of a work of art we must have a balance between the heart, the eyes and the head. First the emotion comes to the heart, then we love with passion through the eyes and finally the head speaks to us. We must try to understand why a work attracts us or an artist in a specific way, it is essential to develop a personal taste in the future.
9 -Purchase of the work of art:
Today you can make a purchase of a work with measured funds and you can start a small collection. The work of art is an object like any other, the difference that contemporary art always has a percentage of increase every year and is almost never devalued. First of all you have to deal with the market and get informed by reading magazines online and offline. Understanding what the market offers by attending some institutional exhibition, museum or gallery, advise with insiders working for years in the sector. (Not those improvised!)
10- The art market accessible at small prices:
On the art market you can find both works by emerging artists and names at affordable prices, in Italy in particular even within € 5,000. Excellent jobs are found even with lower prices. If you fall in love with a work of art and you do not have many possibilities, you can think of agreeing with the artist or gallery owner some form of deferred payment, to be taken into consideration, a right solution for many fans. I strongly advise against buying a work of art that follows fashion, that would be a sure investment wrong. If the work you have chosen is too expensive, you can show something more approachable, even with the signature of the artist himself, such as the smaller works on paper or lithographs.
11- Art leads to success:
Art is fundamental to freeing one’s potential. Not just at school, at work but also at home. There are people today who rent paintings for a day just to have them at home during a dinner or business meeting to show what they have, but that they do not really possess is just aesthetics and power, you want to always have them with you really. Art is also a tool that helps develop their skills in terms of creative thinking, trust, problem solving and the ability to build effective relationships.
12- How to recognize a work of art:
In a few years if the artist works a lot, receives a welcome from the public and a quotation in the art market like any other product. Based on these quotations, it is decided to collect the work, its conservation in museums and its possible transmission to posterity. Similar quotations are made for other artistic works (songs, architectural works, theatrical performances, films.) The artist who has chosen this profession can not escape the rules of the market, even if occasionally he can argue with them.
13- Loving art is good:
Art improves the mood and its good for health, to see an work of art significantly reduces anxiety, depression and increases the feeling of satisfaction for one’s life. Those who love art are more likely to recover from illness. Those who cultivate this passion have a faster recovery after the disease, remove anxiety and help the memory more solid. In short, for the health of the soul, and not only that, it is essential!
Art can never dissolve in communication, because it contains an incommunicable nucleus that is the source of an infinite number of interpretations M.Perniola (Omage)
She is an independent curator, art advisor and international marketing management consultant. For more than 20 years, he has been a cultural designer of events related to contemporary art with particular attention to unusual spaces and interactions with other arts.