I’ve been sitting in my popup show this past week and watching the people coming in has been interesting to say the least. I did an art fair a few weeks ago and in general most of the people coming to my stall were interested in what I had to say and in what was on offer. Visitors to the pop up have been different. I’m right next to the cafe for a start, so there is an element of being, to paraphrase the old V&A slogan, ‘an ace cafe with a nice art space attached.’ So, with that proviso in mind, it seems that visitors fall into three broad categories – ‘artists’, ‘decorators’ and ‘clueless’.
Artists
This is my shorthand term for the group of people who appear to have some knowledge of the art world. They may not be practicing artists, (although for some reason I’ve had lots of printmakers coming in) but they have some conception of the various media and recognize artists other than Damien Hirst or Monet.
Decorators
A slightly dismissive term perhaps, although not intended that way. This group buy pictures, not art. In the classic formulation ‘they don’t know about art, but they know what they like’. They are generally drawn to colours and subjects not media.
The Clueless
An even crueller term to describe this last group, one that mystifies me. They appear to have no conception of art at all, even as decoration. They wander in and stare bemusedly at the walls as if the idea of a picture is new to them. They stand for minutes at a time looking at the top picture in a browser, but make no move to look at the others. Speaking to them doesn’t help. If they don’t immediately flee they will stare blankly at you; if they respond at all it is likely to be in monosyllables. Why they come in at all is a mystery to me and I suspect to them. It is as if having visited the cafe, they have a duty to consume the rest of the premises.
I came up with these categories almost as a game, but with hindsight I think there is a serious point about markets. Artists and Decorators alike are potential customers, probably at different price points, but not necessarily. It is the ‘Decorators’ after all who pay vast sums for so called ‘Limited Edition Art Prints’ or similar gobbledook. With care they can be converted to ‘Artists’. That doesn’t mean persuading them that your original work is an investment’ or better value in some way than the reproductions. Remember it is color and subject that draws them in, not artistic value. The approach I think lies in simple explanations of what makes a work original – the hand of the artist. You also have to catch their eye too of course, and more particularly provide them with something that they can happily live with. Dismissing them because they want something that coordinates with their interior – ‘that matches the sofa’ is misguided. Even practicing artists don’t normally treat their homes as galleries. They will think about how and where they display work – including the context.
