For me, the journey of creating contemporary art started early in life. It’s a story that many artists share. Learning, working, evolving and developing a unique in style at some point. As things naturally evolved, I imagined a way to put my contemporary art for sale, and the online world seemed like the logical next step. That’s how Darius Martin dot com was born. A misconception exists, that high-end art is very expensive. That is only true for established artists. The alternative is to buy works by emerging artists. Buying art is a long-term commitment. The inexpensive modern art for sale available today might be the next big thing in the future. Good original art should be affordable but not cheap, as such work has no current value, and no chance for growth. So, choose wisely.
Showcasing art for sale online is something I believe many artists contemplate. But selling artwork on the Internet is more than uploading images on a website. When I created this platform for my art, my goal was to build an online business that would suit my lifestyle as an artist. I wanted to create something original that would offer quality beyond the art itself. In other words, beyond selling high end modern artwork, I want to offer buyers an experience. When people purchase my art, they not only get a unique work of contemporary art, they get a professional service, complete with a Certificate of Authenticity and provenance for every piece. I only sell original, one-of-a-kind artworks, all hand painted, drawn, manufactured or sculpted. All my artworks are signed on the back (I don’t like front signatures), and have a sticker that contains all the relevant information for that particular art piece, plus an additional signature.
This section showcases the works that are on sale, pieces that have been sold or not available are still exhibited, for viewing purpose only. At this stage the website only hosts a small selection of art for sale: original works, mainly paintings and drawings. In the near future three more categories will be added: sculpture, photography and installation.
My paintings are a combination between abstract and figurative, created in a style that merges classical techniques and rules of lighting and composition with a modern subject. Although not instantly apparent, I view my paintings as conceptual pieces rather than descriptive works. They’re built around a conceptual, philosophical core of ideas, that incorporate personal symbolic meaning and external input from social sciences and other artforms.
Oil painting has fascinated me from an early age. No other medium is so closely associated with art and has a comparable transition through the ages. I can’t say for sure why oil paintings have such a magnetic aura or why they generate such mystique. It’s probably because they’re able to create such vivid imagery, where, at a visual level, even abstract creations have a distinctive life-like appearance and dynamic.
I always loved creating drawings, but lately I started viewing drawing in whole new light. Rather than viewing it as a simple starting point for creating more complex work, I try to push the boundaries of the medium and create complete works, including sculptures where I use lines to create tridimensional vectors and tromp l’oeil effects to emulate real space by combining real shadows with applied ones. I call this drawing technique “fake object”.
The adaptability of pencil drawing has enabled me to create complex works that go far beyond sketching and doodling, pushing the perceived limitations into the realm of tridimensional art, towards sculpture and installation. Pencil drawings have such a raw, almost telluric feel to them, due to the mineral characteristics of graphite, that the possibilities for creating symbolism are infinite.
As I mentioned before, all the artworks sold on this website are modern one-off originals. You won’t find any copies, reproductions or interpretations of famous artist’s work. I value authenticity more than the commercial potential of an object, or the promise of a quick sale. I’d like to be able to provide affordable modern art for sale to all my visitors, without a decrease in quality. Pricing follows four simple factors: size, time necessary to create, complexity and materials used. Works that are larger, take a considerable time, effort and create additional costs are naturally more expensive. However, there’s no rule saying that a modern artwork created or bought at lower prices is not going to increase in value. If in doubt, just think about Duchamp’s “Fountain”.
The buying process on this website is straight forward. If you decided on a piece, just click on the “add to cart” button on the product page, proceed to checkout, where you’ll be asked to provide your contact and shipping details, then click “Finish”. This will take you to the PayPal page where you could finish the transaction by Credit Card or PayPal.
Shipping for all artworks is free. All works will be shipped in a reinforced cardboard box. The packaging and preparing for shipping takes about two days, taking into consideration non-working days. The shipping process takes roughly two weeks from the shipping date to arrival. Shipping is via conventional (snail) mail, and no additional costs should be expected.
In the context of modernism, or modern art, contemporary art encompasses a period beginning roughly around 1950 and continues to this day. One could argue that all artworks created today should be considered contemporary, but the phrase is merely a reference to a flavor of late modern art. Describing contemporary art in a few sentences is impossible, as the number of movements, styles and trends is huge, not to mention the number of artists involved. Some of the more notable styles in no particular order are Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Fluxus, Tachisme, COBRA, Young British Artists, Arte Povera, and the list could continue forever, as this is an ongoing phenomenon. Needless to say, this trend is not exclusively visual, it’s an interdisciplinary phenomenon that connects musicians, film makers, artists, writers and scientists and their works in an ensemble of thought and critique that goes beyond galleries, museums and theaters, and connects ideas so important for progress. The number of artists involved in the phenomenon is huge, I could mention a few, again, in no particular order, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Joseph Beuys, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Levi van Veluw, and again, the list could go on indefinitely.
Contemporary art is by no means a monolithic phenomenon, it’s an heterogenous construction with eternal, passionate debates as to the nature of art, divergent, distinctive values and opinions and people of various backgrounds creating original artworks very different in nature and spirit, all falling under this large umbrella of “contemporary art”. Ever since art has escaped the domestication imposed by patronage by the church or statesmen, and humanity stepped into the modern world, art has become a means of expression and a weapon, dismantling and demolishing old ideas and replacing them with new ones. Regardless of whether we admit it or not, all people have a love-hate relationship with contemporary art. Some love certain parts, while being indifferent or disliking others, or simply dismiss all the progress of the last century in visual arts, but there’s nowhere to hide. I once read and article about a writer who made it his life’s mission to prove Cy Twombly was a bad artist and his work was worthless, only to end up being one of his strongest supporters. Ultimately, art is about passion, and one can’t disprove passion.
So, if you were looking for contemporary art for sale online and stumbled upon my art, and you’d like to own a particular piece, but you’re still unsure about some details, feel free to contact me by e-mail or phone, or by using the Live Chat menu found on the bottom left of any page on this website.
How about discounts? I don’t have a particular discount policy yet, but if you see something you like that’s outside your budget, contact me before ordering and we’ll see what we can do.
There are countless websites selling contemporary art out there. If for whatever reason you couldn’t find anything that suits your taste here, I would recommend browsing these websites: Saatchi Art, Artspace, ArtFido, Artsy, Artfinder, Artnet. I have no affiliation to any of them, but I found some really inspiring artists selling fine art on them, and I think any art buyer brave enough to spend money on artworks by emerging artists could benefit from checking out those collections.