Instructor collects student artwork
Santos Cortes/Courier
Former artist, current student art collector Brock Klein
with Steve Holden's "Untitled # 4" in background.
Titania Kumeh .„*.■
ArtsEd.tor GMXn«f .
Brock Klein hails from the 1980s
Mary Boone art commission tradition of buying work from young
artists before their prices rise with
their fame. Like a latter day art
patron, several things motivate the
current director of the teaching and
learning center to purchase art pieces
from students.
"I was a student and I know that
many art students are broke," Klein
said. A professional artist for 20
years, Klein is experienced in starving for creativity's sake.
"Buying a work directly from a
student artist usually means you've
negotiated fairly easily," he said. "A
student artist is more likely to accept
the asking price. It works for everybody I get good work and students
get good money."
Klein likes being around good
works of art. " Someone once said to
me, 'a collector is someone who has
more work than can fit on his wall.'
I'm getting there." He goes to student art shows, looks around, and if
he see's something that catches his
eye, he'll buy it. He has purchased
work from students at Art Center,
the Fine Art Department at
Claremont University, and from
prize winner's in PCC's student artwork show.
"The last couple of pieces that I
bought were photographs with a
California ethnic state to them," said
Klein. A photo by PCC student
Santos Cortes features Oxnard
migrant worker picking strawberries.
Portraits by Sandrinha Cruz depict
Broadway's garment district.
"Santos's piece is in my office and
every time I go there I see something
different," said Klein. "Good art has
a changing narrative."
Klein was once a cliched starving
New York artist/waiter living in the
Big Apple during the late 1970s early
80s. Then, the late Jean-Michel
Basquiat ushered in grafitti's art-for-
the-masses, paint-where-you-will fad
which peaked the interest of art collectors and eventually pop-culture.
Basquiat was virtually unknown and
not formally trained in the arts, so
his unique brand of graffiti-inspired
palettes caused many to scramble for
their wallets and purchase work
from the artist before he became
famous.
"If you collect, then you always
dream of catching somebody before
they are famous," said Klein.
"There's a lot of good work coming
from this program. A lot of these
kids I know in a few years their
prices will be going up."
"Generally speaking, if an artist
has a reputation then the prices are
really high."
Klein got his BFA from the
University of Michigan, his TESL
degree from USC, and his doctorate
for teaching at UCLA.
As a former artist Klein also
knows the significance of selling a
piece. "It's recognition for your
work. It means somebody not only
likes it, but likes it enough to buy it.
Someone will say, 'Oh your work is
really great,' but when someone
picks up a check book and buys it, it
means something more. It's very
important for talented young people
to get that recognition."
