All of us are worried about the economy. All of us know people who have lost their jobs, or young people who can't find jobs. Savings and retirement funds are down and university fees are up. As each day passes life seems just a little bit harder and to make a bad situation even worse it is even harder for artists.
Recent research has revealed that many artists have experienced drops in income with more than 50 percent of those surveyed saying incomes were down by 50 percent or more. But hey- ho, the greedy investment bankers and hedge fund managers whose blood lust for money caused the worldwide recession are also suffering! But guess what? They are looking for a reprieve from the market volatility by playing the art market, even if they can't tell a Rubens from a sandwich.
This is nothing new of course . Damien Hirst's 22-ton infamous shark (real name: The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living) could hardly be in better company than among the traders at one of the world's top hedge funds. It was purchased by Steven Cohen a hedge fund manager and the founder of SAC Capital Advisors. Cohen also has in his collection signature works by famous artists including Pollock, Warhol and Picasso. He also purchased Marc Quinn's Self, a head sculpture made of frozen blood, which is displayed in the SAC lobby.
But there is hope. As you etch out a living in a freezing dilapidated studio a hedge fund manager may come knocking. You can then strike up a mutually beneficial exchange - thus the economy would benefit from a revived fund asset class and renewed demand for art creation?
