Shortlist 2 - Phillips New Now (NYC)
Chris Martin (B. 1954)
Seven Pointed Star (2007)
48 x 38 inches
Oil on collage on canvas
Signed and dated on lower right on reverse
Auction House Estimate: $7,000 to $10,000
My Recommendation: Bid up to $16,000
Result: $11,000 (hammer)
Interested in Chris Martin?
Artist Profile
Martin, 66, has an extremely diverse painting practice that can be primal, hermetic, vibrant and meditative, often simultaneously. Classified as Casualist, his work features bright colors and compositions that often originate from a simple doodle. Martin regularly includes non-traditional objects such as glitter, tinfoil and newspaper in his paintings, giving them a homemade feel. He has a degree in art therapy and practiced for 15 years in the 90s and 2000s, which may be the reason why his paintings have a soothing and almost, totemic quality.
My Take
With representation at two excellent galleries (Anton Kern in NYC and David Kordansky in LA) who have track records for taking emerging artists to the next level, Martin is primed to have his prices catch up to his reputation. He’s not young, but his work has been and still is fresh in the eyes of collectors and younger artists alike. At auction, his works have sold for as high as $37,000, and are currently selling for up to $75,000 at his galleries. In the next decade, I expect to see Martin’s market to consolidate and his prices to steadily climb.
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Angel Otero (B. 1981)
Balcony Song (2011)
84 x 72 inches
Oil and oil paint skins on canvas
Signed, titled and dated on the reverse
Auction House Estimate: $18,000 to $25,000
My Recommendation: Bid up to $30,000
Result: $38,000 (hammer)
Interest in Angel Otero?
Artist Profile
Born in San Juan, painter and sculptor, Angel Otero makes bold paintings by applying thick layers of oil paint and dried out sheets of oil paint, called “oil paint skins” to his canvases. To make the skins, he applies paint to glass, then scrapes it off when it is partially dry, and then re-applies these malleable “skins” to the canvas. This creates a layered and textured surface that has become his signature style, which the above painting is a striking example of. He cites Poussin, de Kooning, Picasso as his main influences, as well as Baroque Spanish painting.
My Take
Not yet 40 years old, Otero has a been a fast rising star of the art scene, and shows at 3 excellent US galleries: Lehmann Maupin, Kavi Gupta, and Susanne Vielmetter. His work has sold regularly at auction above $70,000 and on the primary market (aka, at his galleries). This large canvas is a gorgeous example with a beautiful color combination. It is reminiscent of a 1960s Lee Krasner, an American master.
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Marcus Jahmal (B. 1990)
Mystical Forest Trooper (2017)
72 x 60 inches
Acrylic on canvas
Signed on the reverse
Auction House Estimate: $10,000 to $15,000
My Recommendation: Bid up to $20,000
Result: $27,000 (hammer)
Interested in Marcus Jahmal?
Artist Profile
Brooklyn born painter Marcus Jahmal is only 30 years young and has already garnered interest from a bevy of collectors and top level contemporary galleries. He creates uncanny compositions, and brings them to life with a painterly and colorful style all his own. Moving between interiors, still life, portraits, and landscapes, he finds inspiration from dreams, Americana, city-dwelling, and gentrification. Bringing imaginary imagery and settings to life, his canvases are both dreamlike and familiar.
My Take
Jahmal has been on the fast track the past 5 years, with early shows at Canada Gallery in NYC, which has a well-earned reputation of finding and developing emerging painters. Jahmal is currently represented by Almine Rech gallery, who has galleries in NY, Brussels, Paris and Shanghai. I believe he is a rising star and the above work is an excellent portrait. I realize that $15,000 to $30,000, all in, is a high price to pay for an artist so young, but with Jahmal’s talent, I feel it is well worth the risk.
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Matt Connors (B. 1973)
Chakra Chart Redress (2011)
Oil and acrylic on canvas
72 x 48 inches
Auction House Estimate: $20,000 to $30,000
My Recommendation: Bid up to $32,000
Result: $28,000 (hammer)
Interested in Matt Connors?
Artist Profile
Focusing on form and color, Chicago-born painter Matt Connors creates works that seem both familiar and new. Influenced by the vast tradition of abstract painting, his paintings run the full gamut of the abstract canon: minimal, gestural, geometric, and lyrical. He also finds inspiration in music, poetry, and design. Connors has a very diverse compositional practice, and though his paintings often remind their viewers of something real, or another piece of art, there is nothing that wholly inspires a painting. Each one is an exploration unto itself.
My Take
For over 10 years, Connors has been building a steady base of collectors and institutional support (ie. curators, museums), exhibiting throughout the world. With representation at excellent contemporary galleries: Herald St. (London), Canada (NYC), and Xavier Hufkens (Belgium), Connors should continue to steadily garner more and more attention from a broad collector base. On the primary market (his galleries), his paintings often sell for $70,000 to $100,000, and his auction record is just above $110,000 so the opportunity to acquire this painting for $50,000 or less, would be an excellent value. It reminds me of the work of Ad Reinhart, a leading Abstract Expressionist.
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Katherine Bernhardt (B. 1975)
Toucan green/orange (2016)
Acrylic and spray paint on canvas
60 x 48 inches
Auction House Estimate: $18,000 to $25,000
My Recommendation: Bid up to $22,000
Result: $35,000 (hammer)
Interested in Katherine Bernhardt?
Artist Profile
For the past 15 years, Bernhardt has developed a style that I refer to as Sloppy-Pop (patent pending), in which she has depicted models, commercial products, everyday items, Moroccan rugs, the Pink Panther, ET the Extra-Terrestrial, the Kool-Aid man, Garfield, and fetishized objects such as cigarettes, watermelons, palm trees, hamburgers, and many more. Bernhardt’s paintings are quickly executed and relay the joy of image and mark making that a viewer feels instantaneously when in front of her canvases. Many of her paintings have an all-over type composition with objects arranged in a seemingly playful, yet structured way that gives the work exceptional balance. Her work is playful, colorful, and relevant in the consumer economy and culture that encompasses all of us.
My Take
Bernhardt is prolific, and sells a lot at various galleries throughout the world. She is represented by leading contemporary galleries: Canada (NYC), Xavier Hufkens (Belgium), and Nanzuka (Japan) and has had shows at other prestigious galleries including Venus Over Manhattan, Salon 94, and Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, just to name a few . Bernhardt’s auction record is just north of $100,000 and her largest works sell in that range at galleries. A Hammer bid of $22,000 or less for this lot, will get you this colorful, fun painting for less than $33,000, which is a nice deal for an artist that has a very bright future.
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Nigel Cooke (B. 1973)
In Da Club – Shy Guy (2010)
Oil on linen backed by sail cloth
87 x 77 inches
Signed and dated on reverse
Auction House Estimate: $18,000 to $25,000
My Recommendation: Bid up to $20,000
Result: $16,000 (hammer)
Interested in Nigel Cooke?
Artist Profile
Nigel Cooke’s paintings blend personal memories with art historical themes, and abstract motifs often derived from the natural world. The people depicted in his portraits are composite figures compiled from found photographs and memory. Cooke builds up his surfaces with layers of paint to create a notion of ambiguity, collapsing the distinction that has historically existed between figurative, landscape, and abstract painting.
My Take
Truth be told, Cooke’s market was stronger 5-8 years ago than it is now with paintings having sold at auction for over $200,000 and works in this series for over $100,000. With current representation from global powerhouse Pace Gallery, I see this moment as a temporary soft spot in his career that is an excellent opportunity. Another painting from the In Da Club series sold at auction in 2018 with a hammer price of $20,000, and I expect this painting to follow suit. With all fees, to get this work for under $30,000 is a nice wager that the painter and his market will come back to where it once was.
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