It’s Never Been Easier to Enter the Art World

In fact, the big secret about the art world is that—and we’re going to whisper this—there kinda is no art world. There’s no secret council, no minimum buy-in, no “Must Have Status This High to Ride” sign. Sure, certain doors are closed. Yes, staggering sums are changing hands. But whether you’re looking to buy your first major work (we’ll coach you through that next) or just tripping out on an artist’s work on Tumblr, all it takes to enter the art world is participation. And right now, the scene is thrumming—at both the low and high ends.—WILL WELCH

[first steps]

Start Slowly, Buy Wisely By Glenn O’Brien, art collector and GQ’s Style Guy

Don’t rush to buy. Take your time and do your homework. There are bargains out there, often found at charity auctions or from auction houses not located in N.Y.C. or L.A.Don’t just accept a dealer’s price—check a database like artsalesindex.artinfo.com. See what similar works are going for.Don’t buy something because you think you’ll flip it. Buy what you like—and buy to keep. Think of your collection as your estate.Don’t buy a poster even if it’s a Warhol. If you do buy from an edition of prints, buy from a small edition and make sure it’s signed.Don’t be too hip. It’s hard to be on the upside of the curve unless you’re an insider. Better to buy something that’s gone a bit obscure, even out—think modern, not contemporary. (I remember when pulp art was cheap. Now I’m liking ’70s color-field painters.)

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[expert advice] Ready for Your First Dive In? Take the Art-Fair Plunge By Pascal Spengemann, director of Marlborough Chelsea and Broome Street Book a Flight, Bring a Checkbook: The Art-Fair Calendar Art Basel Miami Beach

Dec. 5–8, 2013 L.A. Art Book Fair

Jan. 31–Feb. 2, 2014 NADA

Runs concurrent with Art Basel Miami Beach and Frieze New York. The Armory Show (N.Y.C.)

Mar. 6–9, 2014 Frieze New York

May 9–12, 2014

Fairs are packed with as much art as museums, so the layman can become an insider very quickly. You get to see a lot of work from a lot of different galleries all at once, and the dealers are eager to make sales. Dealers like an educated consumer, but if you’re open to learning about the work, they’re interested in expanding their clientele. Just look for someone with a badge on and don’t be afraid to ask questions. How is something made? How old is the artist? How well-known? You can ask price right away, and it’s common for a collector to ask for a 10 percent discount. Once you’ve found some galleries that feel like kindred spirits, you can follow up and visit them at their actual locations.

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[expert advice] Not Ready for Art on Your Walls? Try Your Bookshelves By Bill Powers, founder of Half Gallery and exhibitiona.com

Think of an art-book collection as your fantasy art collection. I probably have a thousand at home, and it’s a nice way to live with a body of work. There are three categories to know: There’s the monograph, which is a history of an artist’s professional work. There are catalogs for museums (pretty mainstream) and gallery shows (a little more rarefied). And then there are artists’ books, which are those small passion projects—like a show in book form. The spirit connection between collecting art and collecting art books is to get a signed art book. Then you have the artist’s hand in the work. Isn’t that what everyone’s looking for? You can even frame a book like a piece of art. I did that with a copy of The Philosophy of Andy Warhol that has the soup-can drawing in it; I rigged it up so it’s open to that page.

...And Here’s How to Get That Art Library Started

I Spend time at art-book stores and you’ll keep seeing the same logo—PictureBox—on the coolest books. “I try to rediscover old artists and give exposure to new ones,” says publisher Dan Nadel. Releases often include a small run of hand-signed or sketched-in editions: “It’s an affordable way to get a one-of-a-kind.”

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[role models] If a Postal Clerk Can Amass a Million-Dollar Collection, You Can, Too

Worried you don’t have the cash or cachet to build a collection? Fire up the 2008 doc Herb & Dorothy. It’s the wild story of a postal worker and his wife who became major collectors, hoarding some 4,000 pieces (LeWitt, Lichtenstein) in a tiny apartment and never cashing out. (They donated the works to the National Gallery of Art in 1992.) How’d they do it? They sought out early-career artists before the galleries and critics and bought relentlessly. The takeaway is simple: Don’t waste your time longing for work that’s priced you out. When you discover someone special, invest aggressively. And don’t let money hold you back&or be the force that’s driving you forward.—W.W.

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[the connected collector] Yes, It’s Okay to Buy Art from Your iPhone Art has finally gone the way of porn and groceries: one mouse click away from being yours.

Paddle8.com Like a traditional auction house, but online. Twice-monthly sales feature blue-chip artists (Koons, Hirst); charity auctions host work that’s in reach, like a Joe Bradley drawing for $6,600. (His paintings go for ten times that.)Artspace.com Global galleries at your fingertips. Been meaning to check out Gregory Crewdson’s photos at White Cube but can’t afford a flight? Browse from bed.Artsy.net Boasts a 50,000-piece collection with prices geared both to first-time buyers ($1,000 gets you a signed Robert Rauschenberg print) and to seasoned collectors (pony up a cool mil for a Richard Prince painting).—Eric Sullivan

[art mecca] The Collector's Guide to Los Angeles With cheap(er) rent and a bursting gallery scene, L.A. is rivaling New York as America's premier art capital. Book a long weekend and kick-start your collection

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Woody Allen once accused L.A. of topping out culturally at "right turn on red." But thanks to a confluence of talent that includes masters like John Baldessari and Ed Ruscha, as well as young art stars from the local M.F.A. programs like Elliott Hundley, the city is pushing up the fine-art Richter scale.

Start way out west at RoseGallery in Santa Monica to catch a glimpse of Christian Patterson's Redheaded Peckerwood photos (1). Next up is the surging Hammer Museum, which has opened a can of whoop-ass on the city's larger venues.

To the east is Arcana books (2), and then La Cienega Boulevard, with its heavy concentration of galleries. Hit bluechip mecca Blum & Poe, which first brought over Murakami. Then head to** Honor Fraser**, which raised the fine-art profile of street-creeper KAWS. Nearby, David Kordansky has hot names like Elad Lassry (3) and Rashid Johnson, while Roberts & Tilton (4) has teenculture photographer Ed Templeton.

Two stops in mid-Wilshire: ACME, for still affordable abstracters such as Tomory Dodge (5). Then to LACMA , to absorb **James Turrell's **light paintings. Pause at Family on Fairfax for zines, then gun east on Santa Monica to the mega-expanded Regen Projects, with its foot-long roster of the world's biggest artists, young and old, from Ryan Trecartin to **Raymond Pettibon **(6).—A.N.

[art mecca] The Collector's Guide to New York Don’t slog it out with the tourists at the museums. Spend three days and nights riding the pulse of what’s happening now

The key to an art blitz in New York is to play a game of high-low. Skip the Met and go to the Met of galleries, Gagosian (1). The roster includes Tom Sachs and Jeff Koons; this fall the show to see is Richard Serra. Having seen where the big boys play, bolt downtown. Buddies Hanna Liden, Nate Lowman (Mary-Kate’s ex), and Leo Fitzpatrick (of Kids and The Wire fame) started Home Alone—first just a window on Franklin Street with single-work shows by the likes of Paul McCarthy, now a gallery on Forsyth. Not to be out-clevered, Bill Powers moved** Half Gallery,** where he shows downtown artists like **Terry Richardson **and **Lucien Smith, **to the Upper East Side. Time your East Side trek to an appointment at the mysterious **Fulton Ryder **(2), which sells books and smutty pulp-fiction-inspired work by a secretive Gagosian artist. The young art stars are around the galleries in SoHo: Gavin Brown’s got Joe Bradley (3) and Spencer Sweeney; Team Gallery opened a Ryan McGinley (4) show by having Atlas Sound play a set from the roof. Meanwhile, Marlborough has a new outpost on the Lower East Side. A show by gleefully hilarious 27-year-old racial provocateur **Devin Troy Strother **(5) goes up mid-November. If you still haven’t scored, hit up photography bookstore Dashwood, then Printed Matter (6), where fifteen bucks gets you a zine by Ari Marcopoulos, who recently shot Jay Z’s album cover.—W.W.

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[new artist we love ] Chris Johanson Started on the Street, Headed for the Met

**born: **San Jose, California

**lives: **Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon

**what johanson makes: **Colorful and almost childlike paintings of people, cities, and solar systems, often with words of wisdom or existential outbursts. Also: sculptures, video, and music. (See his record label, Awesome Vistas.)

his chops: Brief attempts at two colleges. "Quitting school was one of the smartest decisions of my life," Johanson says. "Schools are structured for a particular kind of brain, and if you don't fit into that, it's fascist. Luckily, I realized school is everywhere."

the work: Johanson is a color-drunk traveler barreling across the road of excess. The early stu≠ in the mid- and late '90s depicted the struggles of everyday life in S.F.'s then downtrodden Mission District, where he spent his "artistvoice- finding" years. But his momentum, technically and conceptually, kept him moving onward and up.

Now Johanson's initial visual trademark—gritty, gray-toned urban decay—has given way to a more threedimensional POV. His palette has broadened to include not only brighter colors but also a more hopeful worldview.

johanson on getting a desk job: "I'm a lifer, man. I was never going to have an office job. I wanted to make art all the time, free-form, free trip, no pension, no security, no board meetings. Everything reminded me of 'Peanuts'—you know, the sounds of the adults. Now I make enough money to eat organic food—and that right there, that's the jackpot."

where to find his work: Altman Siegel in S.F., Mitchell-Innes & Nash in N.Y.C. (Works on paper start around $3,500, paintings around $20K to $60K.) Coming up, an October show at the Modern Institute in Glasgow, then a November 9 public sculpture installation for SFMOMA.—Arty Nelson

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