RED HOOK — When Kamau Ware sold a painting titled “Headphone Masterpiece” at his Pittsburgh, Pa., gallery, he didn’t know he was selling it to his future wife.
Lesley Ware bought the almost $1,000-painting, her first piece of original art, soon after she moved to the city and decided to check out a gallery near her new home.
“Art just makes these kind of things happens,” said Kamau Ware, a Red Hook photographer whose wife runs an eco-friendly fashion camp for children.
Nine years later, and now in Brooklyn, the couple has launched their own gallery with a focus on affordable art for first-time buyers.
Warehouse Gallery & Studio, co-located with a vintage boutique in Bedford-Stuyvesant, opened last month with a range in selection and cost, which Ware hopes will appeal to newcomers and long-time residents.
“Nothing in the gallery sells for more than $500,” he said.
The gallery holds reproductions and originals, which can also be replicated onto different paper options at varying prices.
But choosing a piece of art, especially for first-time buyers, can be challenging. Ware suggests that the customers ask a lot of questions about the piece and the artist before making any purchases.
Keep an art budget – somewhere between what you spend on groceries and your monthly savings, he said. And always look for work that you can see yourself living with every day.
“Art is not just something to decorate your walls,” he said. “When you come home, what’s looking at you?”
Warehouse Gallery & Studio is hosting “Collo,” their first exhibition at 1070 Bedford Ave. till Dec. 21. For more information on upcoming events, visit this website.
