Pointers from the pros
• Get there early and walk around and look at the art before you bid on anything. For the work you're interested in, take notes on the location and take a picture of it. Then go back to the art if you want to make a bid. — Karen Comer Lower, curator and arts consultant
• If you are in a bidding war, don't increase your bid by the suggested increments – double or triple it. — Michael Rooks, curator of modern and contemporary art at the High Museum of Art
• Go early for food and stay late for drink. There are always a lot of people coming and going throughout the night, and you will be surprised how many folks you run into. Try to talk to as many artists as you can; new perspectives are a free perk of the party. — Ruth Dusseault, artist and visiting faculty at Emory University
EVENT PRVIEW
Art Papers Art Auction. Collector's Preview, $175, 7-9 p.m. Jan. 31. Auction, $45 advance, $55 door, 7-10 p.m. Feb. 1. Mason Murer Fine Art, 199 Armour Drive, Atlanta. 404-588-1837, www.artpapers.org/auction
Buying art can be stressful, it can be rewarding, and it can be a great way to class up your walls. But it's rarely as fun and as convivial as it is at the annual Art Papers Art Auction. Many events rolled into one, the auction is an art party, a chance to buy art by accomplished artists — at incredibly reasonable prices — and the perfect opportunity to begin a collection.
The event is the annual fund-raiser for the Atlanta-based, non-profit publication, Art Papers, and is also a key date on the art world’s social calendar. It has become “the de facto yearly reunion for artists, writers, gallerists, enthusiasts and collectors,” said artist Tommy Taylor, who has been contributing work to the show for the past six years.
Now in its 15th year, the auction has settled into the capacious, 24,000-square-foot Mason Murer Fine Art gallery, and it attracts 1,200-1,500 people, said Saskia Benjamin, executive director of Art Papers. Auction-goers walked away from last year’s event with works priced from $50-$7,000, a price point that suggests something for everyone.
More than 250 artists are participating this year, and they range from well-known artmakers such as photographer Lucinda Bunnen, book sculptor Brian Dettmer and painter Fahamu Pecou to lesser known emerging artists.
Contributors also include Pam Longobardi, winner of the $50,000 Hudgens Prize in 2013, and husband and wife Whitney and Micah Stansell, who recently beat out a slew of national artists to win the $100,000 Herradura Tequila Barrel Art competition's top prize.
While selling art is the main event, for many art insiders the auction has a secret agenda: to introduce viewers to new artists or galleries. Some hope the auction will entice future collectors to buy art outside of the auction.
“The artists have donated these works to benefit a great organization and the Atlanta creative community,” said Michael Rooks, curator of modern and contemporary art for the High Museum. He encourages auction-goers to “return the favor by supporting their work all year … by going to Atlanta galleries. Don’t be a bargain hunter who only purchases artwork at benefit auctions.”
Money raised from the auction supports programming and general operations for the magazine, including a major design makeover in the coming months, said Victor Camblin, the publication’s newly hired editor. Said Camblin, who recently relocated to Atlanta from England, “I couldn’t imagine a better crash course in all that’s happening in the arts locally.”
