We buy starter sets of cookware, of china, of flatware, of all kinds of things, so why not starter sets of art, too?
That`s one of the premises behind an exhibit being shown through next Sunday at the Prairie Avenue Gallery, 1900 S. Prairie Ave. The exhibit consists of seven widely art collections; most can be bought only as a whole. In a sense, each collection can be viewed as a single work of art, because each shows the evolution of some particular art form.
”The collections are greater than the sum of their parts,” said Chicago artist Mark Van Wagner, organizer of the show, ”Buy/Low.”
The title reflects the ”inaccuracies of how art work is priced,” Wagner said.
”You can buy things that don`t cost a lot but nonetheless have a lot of meaning to you-more meaning than something that has been dictated to us as high art.”
Each collection has been curated by a person who has a different interest in the art world. For example, art dealer Nancy Lurie curated a 16-piece collection of early works of artists that she has exhibited at her gallery;
Ray Yoshida, professor at the Art Institute, assembled a collection of paintings from an artist in Mexico.
Collections range from $75 to about $6,000.
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Gallery hours are noon-5 p.m. on weekends or by appointment. For information call the Prairie Street Gallery, 312-842-4523.