My new wife and I have a nice 1 bedroom in midtown west (55th). We wanted to add color to the wall where the couch is...and have been looking for a couple of good artistic pieces. It's not easy!
Our budget for this wall is roughly $300-$500, and we have not had much luck. My idea was to get 2 or 4 or even 6 canvas panels and just throw color on them. But our lack of artistry...has moved us away from that... Any ideas???? Thanks! wp
We had a friend in college who spray painted poster board and hung them on his wall. Bad idea (sorry, John). When in doubt, leave the space open and relax.
Space doesn't need to be filled. As for adding color, pillows, blankets or lampshades can do nicely. As for finding good, affordable art, we recommend taking a look at some of the local and online galleries we have found, as well as hunting around for more. This is an opportunity, so don't rush. Anyone else? MGR
ART LINKS...
- All Good Questions
- Audrey Heller: Photography
- Grainbag
- Mixed Greens
- Robin Rice Gallery
maps are cool. a colorful map, nicely framed can be good.
also, my friend meredith has worked wonders with old movie posters. she has an old print/poster of her favorite audry hepburn classic ("breakfast at tiffany's" maybe?) in her bedroom and others around the house. she hangs them very neatly using those black paper clip clamp things -- the sort that are usually used for binding large-ish documents at work. cheap and chic.
I a got a few different shades of green paint from the hardware store and painted a grid of color fields on a giant wall I had. It makes for an interesting wall that is dirt cheap.
If you're willing to spend up to $500, art is the way to go. In light of the need to nest during hard financial times, I argue that all other wall options only plummet in value. If you buy a decent art piece, you may get more value out of it in the long run than just aesthetic pleasure, which counts for a lot but doesn't have to stand on its own. I'd suggest doing a search for pieces $500 or less at eyestorm [http://www.eyestorm.com/search/?cc=USD], which sells originals and prints and features artists such as David Hockney and Damien Hirst.
Another resource for affordable art is your local art/design college... usually, they have annual sales of student work, or ways to commission a piece from students still enrolled.
And don't forget the upcoming AAF (Affordable Art Fair) Contemporary Art Fair, mentioned here on AT few days ago...
If you want to buy art, you should definitely check out the Affordable Art Fair:
http://www.aafnyc.com/
Hundreds of galleries and nothing over $1,000!
If you want to do it yourself, a fun and incredibly cheap project is the "Rasterbator" - you take any image and it enlarges it and prints it out on 16 or so 8 1/2 x 11 pieces of paper. Then you hang all the individual pieces up to make one big image. (This makes much more sense when you look at the website gallery..) It will make you look cool and artsy with ZERO artistic ability!
http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/
A quick search by price at mixedgreens.com yielded 99 items at or under $500... but don't forget to factor in tax, shipping and framing.
Another thing I've found is that many galleries/artists are open to a little bargaining, or installment plans, especially at group shows like AAF and -scope, especially if you are sincerely interested in the artist and his or her work. I've had gallery people voluntarily bring down a price without my even asking because of the attention I was paying to a piece or the questions I was asking about the work.
And I agree with MGR and jg... it's better to live with lovely open space until you can get the best piece you can afford and, more importantly, really love. Maybe make art your mutual gifts to each other at birthdays and anniversaries?
Tepper Galleries on 25th between Park Ave South and Lex has an auction every couple of weeks. I went to the last preview and there were a lot of art/wall hanging pieces that were estimated at under $500. Probably worth a look.
http://www.teppergalleries.com/contents.html
If you're looking for maps that truly are art, check out www.ravenmaps.com. They're accurate, inexpensive, yet very high quality and look nothing like what's in that old road atlas. Some are also impressively large, and easily fix that blank wall above a couch or desk.
I own the New Hampshire/Vermont map; it really looks nice even without a mat in a simple metal frame, particularly against brick.
Hi, I'm an abstract painter and I may have a painting for you. Let me know if you like my style. I have other artworks with special prices.
Thanks. Regia
http://www.regiaart.com
http://www.stores.ebay.com/regiaart
I just got home from volunteering in a used bookstore, and I happen to have spent my shift arranging the art books section. They have some beautiful used monographs for $25, many by obscure & interesting artists. I like the idea of clustering many small pieces together, so I think you could do something interesting with prints cut from a book. here's the place where I work.
http://www.housingworks.org/usedbookcafe/index.html?
WOW! Im still at work so I don't have time to search but this is an incredible list of resources! Thanks everyone and keep them coming - I WILL HAVE COLOR!
Cheers,
wp.
I disagree. Creating one's own Pollock style painting can be a lot of fun and allow one to decorate on the cheap.
http://timbu.org/mtblog/archives/000409.html
I have seen some very nice classic marimekko fabrics stretched like a canvas and hung like art to great effect. Check out the following URL for a very colorful selection.
http://www.sonikas.com/marimekko2/fabric_selection.htm
While expensive for fabric, it is worth it.
Similar to Jorge's suggestion, did you also consider just painting that entire wall a "departure color" from the rest of the room? That way, you get the best of both worlds... the impact of color, and that elusive calmness of space that MGR is helping us achieve!!!
The AAF (affordable art fair) www.aafnyc.com will be opening in New York on October 28th at the Piers all art is under $5,000 including tax so you may find something in your price range. I like JG Contemporary for affordable good work.
Why not use those blik removable decals. You can add a little zing without the commitment. Sounds like me in my single days :) Look at these on velocity art and design!
http://www.velocityartanddesign.com/blik.html
Try Anno Domini gallery online at http://www.galleryAD.com. They specialize in emerging artists from around the nation. If you see something you like from a recent/past exhibiting artist they are very good at helping you out too. If you are in the area... I would highly recommend dropping by one of their openings.
You can paint just the wall in question. Use a multi color paint(multiple colors in one can) follow directions on can. By selecting the right color you can add depth to the room.
You can use combination of wall hangings in different sizes.
How painting the wall itself with abstract figurings ?
Add scented candles and spreading them around room.....