Artsology

10 Challenging Art Works for Art Collectors

Let's imagine that you're a very eccentric and wealthy art collector, and you want to collect art that reflects your unique vision and ideas. What would you buy and collect? You don't want the traditional paintings or photography, you don't want something simple to hang on your wall ... you want something daring! We have a few ideas for you, but we ask the question that all art gallery visitors are probably wondering: where are you going to put these things? All art works below were seen in New York City art galleries or art fairs ...

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Pumpkin sculpture by Yayoi Kusuma

#10: Yayoi Kusama, Pumpkin, 2015. Stainless steel and blue urethane paint, measuring 58 x 56 x 55 inches. Okay, so this one isn't that tough ... just place it in the middle of your living room floor. Is it really that unusual to live with a 6 foot blue steel pumpkin?

Fabian Marcaccio, Tridimensional Environmental Paintant #1

#9: Fabian Marcaccio, Tridimensional Environmental Paintant #1, 2016. Mixed media installation measuring 27 feet long x 5 feet wide. What do you do if your room is 28 feet long? Or 25 feet long, for that matter?

Maggie Dunlap, The Bloody Chamber

#8: Maggie Dunlap, The Bloody Chamber, 2016. Bed, sheets, blankets, pillows, lingerie, embroidery floss, dimensions variable. It doesn't say anything about the debris underneath - does that come with?

Mark Dion, The Library for the Birds of New York

#7: Mark Dion, The Library for the Birds of New York, 2016. Full dimensions unknown, but includes an 11 foot tall white oak tree, 22 live birds, books, ephemera, images and objects related to birds from popular, art historical, scientific, and film sources.

Zhang Huan painting

#6: Zhang Huan, Let There Be Light, 2015. I know we said "no paintings," but this is no ordinary painting - it features over 1,000 life-sized figures and measures 122 feet long, wrapping around a corner. Who's got a room with walls for this?

Art sculpture of The Thing from the Fantastic Four by Gilles Barbier

#5: Gilles Barbier, A Very Old Thing, 2015. Mixed media measuring 6 x 6 x 4 feet in size. My question is: do you need to water the plants and give it sunshine?

large scale sculpture with pots and pans by Subodh Gupta

#4: Subodh Gupta, This Is Not A Fountain, 2011-2013. Old aluminium utensils, water, painted brass taps, PVC pipes, and motor, measuring 16 x 26 feet. The title says "not a fountain," but you're still going to need a plumber to install this piece, because there is indeed running water flowing through the utensils.

In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, by Takashi Murakami

#3: Takashi Murakami, In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, 2014. Unknown dimensions and materials, but just comparing it to the size of the woman next to it, it's BIG.

Monika Sosnowska Tower

#2: Monika Sosnowska, Tower, 2014. Steel and paint, measuring 106 x 20 x 11 feet. Do you see the security guard standing in front of this thing, to get a sense of the scale? And yes, this was in an art gallery - Hauser & Wirth, which is a monumental space anyway.

Dieter Roth, Large Table Ruin with Bjorn Roth and Eggert Einarsson

#1: Dieter Roth, Large Table Ruin, 1978-1998. Mixed media installation, basically taking up a large room with stuff scattered all over the place. It is said that "Roth was not an artist who tolerated boundaries." Need we say more?

So, which one are you ready to take home? It makes us wonder how much discussion there is between the artist and the dealer in advance of making some of this work, knowing that while it may fit in the gallery, where is it going to fit after the show ... especially as far as finding art collectors who can accomodate it?