Selling Alternative Art

A walk around your local art gallery will reveal a whole host of alternative art, both sculpture and canvas, for sale by both amateur and professional artists. There is also a large online community of alternative artist's successfully selling work.

What is Alternative Art?

Alternative art is normally a collection of experimental pieces by different artists. It can be expressionist in nature, pushing the boundaries of what is accepted as art, but whichever category it falls into it is normally highly prized by collectors.

Creating Alternative Art

Only create alternative art if you have the skill, dedication and the ability to take the flack from the press. Alternative art is normally badly received by critics as it makes them think and reconsider what they perhaps originally viewed as art. It is also normally only attempted by established artists as the risks of failure are greater than with creating mainstream art.

If you decide that alternative art is what you really want to create then you will need to make sure it is highly publicized and try to build up hype surrounding it's unveiling. Be prepared for it to either be a big hit or fail, with alternative art either is possible.

Collectors

There are many collectors of alternative art and your local gallery should be able to advise you on the best way to exhibit in order to reach these collectors. Local press, collector's magazines, online website communities and forums all offer a path to collectors. Online auction sites are another way to successfully sell alternative works of art.

Collectors also like limited editions; they will often squabble to get the low numbers in a collection. If you keep your editions runs fairly low in number the chances are the more collectors you will attract. Try to stay under a run of 250 for maximum impact. Include an authenticity certificate and number each piece. It is essential that you guarantee that after the creation of these limited edition pieces you will NEVER make any more in that design.

Tips

When creating your alternative art try not to be too bizarre. Although the market loves 'different' it is often wary of outrageous (unless you're famous to begin with).

To try alternative art, begin by taking traditional designs and giving them a modern twist, these pieces often sell better than the more outlandish designs. Remember, you don't need to be too alternative to be successful. Buyers often look for a piece of art that is a talking point, not one that needs explaining. Alternative art should be self explanatory whilst challenging boundaries.

Go to local galleries and ask about the alternative art that they stock. Look at it closely and try to assess what the market is buying. It's ok to ask questions about how well alternative art sells, explain to them that you are an artist looking to create alternative art and would like to exhibit with them, but are looking for clues as to what pieces sell well. They will often give you the information as they want your exhibition to be successful because when you sell they make money too.