The new world of affordable art

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Is that a shopping cart or conceptual art? An installation that equates paintings with the essentials of daily living? Or merely a cheeky invitation to buy art so affordable, you’d want to stock up?

At Artspace Warehouse in L.A., neon-pink signs direct customers to sections organized by price, with small-scale original pieces by artists such as Berlin-based Kati Elm that cost as little as $40. “I am sure I sell more because of the democratic price,” Elm said.

Writer David A. Keeps looks at artists -- emerging and established -- who are reaching an audience, not through an exclusive show where a few works sell at high prices, but rather through new galleries and websites where low-priced creations sell in volume. For shoppers, the upshot is easier access to inexpensive work.

Article: The changing world of affordable art

Photos: Painting and photography, priced to sell

Photos, from top: The shopping cart and pink price signs in Artspace Warehouse. Credit: David A. Keeps

David Bowie’s Pop art-influenced ‘Iman No. 1,’ a portrait of his wife, the model and actress Iman, sold as a limited edition on the budget-minded art website 20x200. Credit: David Bowie / 20x200.

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