Art Buying Syndicates: 🚀 or 🛑?

+ Tom White: Portrait Genius + Is Frieze Still the Art Elite's Fave? + Troy Carter's Artistic Gambits

HEY Y’ALL! 🔥

Welcome to the 983 new art lovers who joined last week.

Art in a Flash is a series from Frame&Flame that offers a concise roundup of the week's standout artists, pivotal collections, and key market shifts.

This week’s Art in a Flash includes:

  • 🌟 Rising Artists: Dive into the worlds of Tom White, Clare Rojas, and Eddie Martinez.

  • 👀 Collector's Corner: Troy Carter, ex-Spotify head and Atom Factory founder, passionately curates a collection featuring leading African-American artists.

  • 💭 Your Questions Answered: Art buying syndicates offer affordability and networking for collectors, but clear rules and leadership are crucial.

  • 🔗 Market Stories: Frieze London celebrates its 20th year last week; Sotheby's saw a 43% dip; Yuga Labs is cutting its crew, and more.

Read Time 05 minutes

🤝 A Message from ProductivityGlid

When Your To-Do List is Longer Than the Day

Ever feel like your ambitions outpace the 24 hours you're given? ProductivityGlide is your daily dose of momentum, delivered in just a blink. Get ready for revelations, game-changers, and strategies, all in a 30-second read.

📈 Hack Your Day, Before It Hacks You 📈

Let's face it: time's finite, but possibilities aren't. ProductivityGlide is that daily nudge transforming "I wish" into "I did". Get firsthand insights, stories, and tools, curated for the ever-curious entrepreneur, the ambitious startup maven, and the business pro hungry for more hours.

Why waste a minute when you can redefine productivity?

Elevate Your Efficiency with ProductivityGlide.

Want to stop seeing ads? Upgrade now. Want to get in front of 10,000+ art lovers & collectors? Go here.

🌟 Rising Artists

Tom White, An archive of longings (2023)

🤔 What you need to know: Tom White, a UK artist born in 1995, graduated from Camberwell College of Arts in 2021 and lives in London. His work is less about creating a picture-perfect portrait and more about capturing the soul of his subject. Using oil paint as his medium, White scales his figures larger than life, choreographing each brushstroke to communicate character and mood. With recent solo exhibitions like "Between the Shadow and the Soul" at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, he's an artist on the rise. His pieces have also found homes in prestigious collections, such as the Yageo Foundation and the Gnyp/Springmeier Collection in Berlin.

Recent career milestone: Solo exhibitions are a major play in an artist's career, and Tom White has recently added two notable ones to his résumé in 2023: "Between the Shadow and the Soul" at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery and "The Odd Uneven Time" at Grove Collection, both in London. Plus, he's showcased his talent in various group exhibitions across Europe.

😍 Why I Like It: White's work digs deeper than surface-level aesthetics. The essence he captures in his figures transcends the basic appearance, offering a visceral experience that engages viewers. It's about the tension between the painted figure and the person it represents, about the very air around them. He's not just slapping paint on a canvas; he's carving out a narrative and inviting you into it. His mastery of oil paint allows him to balance nuanced details with bold strokes, making each piece a dynamic field of emotion and light. Trust me, this guy gets it.

Upgrade for the full batch of artists for this week, including works by Clare Rojas and Eddie Martinez…14-day trial available.

🧐 Collector's Corner

Troy Carter, Founder at Atom Factory and Q&A

🔍 Collector Close-Up: Let's talk Troy Carter: a name you can't ignore if you're tuned into the L.A. art scene. Known for his past roles as global head of Spotify and founder of Atom Factory, Carter's transition into the art world has been nothing short of holistic. He serves as a trustee at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and sits on the board at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). He also supports Mark Bradford's Art + Practice initiative in Leimert Park, a haven for emerging artists.

What drives him? "I became fascinated with the entire art ecosystem," Carter once said. "I go so deep that I go all in." His portfolio took off in 2018 when he snagged an oversized Rashid Johnson canvas for $730,000. This purchase wasn't an isolated event; it was part of a growing collection that features leading African-American artists. Carter likes to keep it personal, often closing deals in the artists' own studios.

💎Key Artists in the Collection:

  • Rashid Johnson: Known for exploring African-American identity, Johnson's "Untitled Escape Collage" was the painting that put Carter on the map as a serious collector.

  • Glenn Ligon: Another heavy-hitter, Ligon's text-based works also delve into race and identity.

  • Sam Gilliam: An abstract expressionist who pushes the boundaries of painting.

  • Charles Gaines: Brings a mathematical approach to representation and language.

  • Lorna Simpson: Known for her large-scale photo-text pieces.

  • Theaster Gates: Focuses on space theory and land development, a personal friend of Carter.

  • Lauren Halsey: A rising star who merges architecture and fine art, also close to Carter.

“Coming from music, I understand artists. Visiting their studios, I get to know their intent, just like understanding the lyrics of a songwriter. You want to stay connected to what got you there.”

Shared by Carter in an interview

💭 Your Questions Answered

Pooling resources to buy art—sound like an insider hack or a bubble about to burst? This week's question is:

What's the real deal behind art buying syndicates? Are they a smart move for new collectors?

Rashid Johnson, Untitled Escape Collage (2018)

The Basics

An art buying syndicate is a group of people pooling their money to buy art. It's that simple. You and your art-loving friends get together, decide on what kind of art you want to focus on—say, modern art or sculptures—and start buying.

The Perks

  • Affordability: By pooling funds, you and your group can buy art that might be out of reach individually.

  • Shared Knowledge: Two heads are better than one, right? You can leverage the group's collective art wisdom.

  • Networking: These syndicates are more than just transactional; they're social. You can make friends who share your interests.

  • Access to Better Art: A bigger budget from combined funds means you can aim higher in terms of quality and significance.

What to Watch For

  • Clear Rules: Make sure everyone is on the same page about what types of art you're buying and how much everyone should contribute.

  • Leadership: Choose a committee or leader to make the final call on purchases, so decisions don't get stuck in endless debates.

  • Rotational Plan (optional): Decide how the art circulates among members, so everyone gets to enjoy the collection.

  • Exit Strategy: What happens if someone wants out or if the group decides to disband? Make sure there are clear rules.

The Verdict

So, are art buying syndicates a solid strategy? The answer is yes, they can be incredibly useful, offering a balanced mix of social and financial benefits. If you're looking to get more serious about your art collection while spreading out the risks and costs, a syndicate could be your next best move.

Would you consider collecting in this way?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Have a question about the art market you want answered? Send me an email

🔗 Market Stories

💡 How I Can Help

❤️ Upgrade to unlock all my pro content. 14-day trial available.

📣 Let me grow your brand faster by getting your content in front of millions of people on Instagram

🤝 Grab time with me for a 1:1 art career coach session

🚀 Advertise in my newsletter to get in front of 10,000+ art lovers

What'd you think of today's newsletter?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.