Collecting Art at The Arts Department

In Color Magazine’s issue #87, the publication made a argumentative piece on the ways of looking at art. The prolific issue unravels how art is taught and traded today. With this rapid resurgence of art and the exploration of artwork being produce, remastered, or modified, a probing curiosity arises to the question, “who decides on what art is?”

In relating to this broad question, recently The Goods Dept introduced an independent show space dedicated to serve as a commutative tool of art collection presented at its early stages.

As a retail space, The Goods Dept has worked closely with a number of prolific designers and artist in developing a solid presence of both local and international brands who has worked in translating contemporary ideas into form.

Today, through The Art Department, the retail space is encouraging a number of emerging artists to introduce their work and open the door to being a collectible item. “..art collecting should be contemporary and fun, but no less desirable,” as stated by The Goods Dept representative. By being a retail and interactive space, The Arts Department held at the curated retail store will promote the idea of collecting artwork in its most accessible form and price points.

The initial event introduced various different artwork from the artists behind Kandura Keramik, illustrator R. Yuki Agriadi, and  husband – wife duo, Erik and Erika Pauhrizi, to name a few. Held last Thursday at the store’s location in Pacific Place, the collectible artwork was curated and managed by art sales expert, Amalia Wirjono, and exhibition designer Abraham Dewanggana, who continues to give people a closer look and an open discussion amongst themselves to understand who and what is determined as art – before they finally acquire their first collectible piece.

– Athina Ibrahim
Photography by Gabriela Bhaskar