Unfram_d

I hosted a private dinner last week on “investing in culture.” Here’s what stood out: Most people don’t start collecting art because of money. They start because of exposure. Museums. Family. Curiosity. But over time, the conversation shifts. From taste → to conviction From curiosity → to capital At the table, people began comparing art to venture capital: backing early, spotting signals, building belief before the market agrees. The financial lens comes later. But the foundation is always cultural. Want to be part of the conversation? DM me.

I've been thinking about why the most well-funded people in San Francisco aren't investing in the thing that made San Francisco worth moving to. It's not apathy. It's not ignorance. It's a values mismatch that runs deeper than most people want to admit. Tech is built on transparency, efficiency, legibility. You can see the metrics. You can explain the ROI. Art is built on the opposite. Opacity. Mystique. Relationships that take decades. Value that resists being explained. Here's the twist: that's also exactly how venture capital works. Information asymmetry. Opaque networks. Early believers get access. The crowd gets in too late. So if the structure is the same, why isn't the capital following? I wrote about this, and about what happens to cities that defund culture while the money sits on the sidelines. The data is not subtle. Link in comments

I spent several days walking the floor of Frieze Art Fair in Los Angeles last week. Art fairs can feel chaotic — hundreds of booths, thousands of works, and conversations happening everywhere at once. But if you slow down and look carefully, patterns start to emerge. A few signals stood out this year: • the continued rise of textiles and ceramics • the growing coordination between Los Angeles museums through MAC3 — a collaboration between the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles • and one market signal many collectors overlook: how often an artist appears across multiple art fairs Most people encounter the art market through auction headlines. But recognition in the art world usually forms much earlier — across galleries, museums, and collectors. I wrote about a few of the patterns I noticed walking Frieze LA. Link in comments. 👇

One thing I’ve noticed about wealth clients. Eventually they become curious about art. Not immediately. But usually after: • building their careers • buying their homes • starting to think about legacy At some point the question appears: "How does the art world actually work?" The problem is that the art market is surprisingly opaque. Fewer than 1% of artists ever reach institutional recognition, and understanding how that happens requires navigating galleries, museums, collectors, and markets. That curiosity is part of what led me to start Unfram_d. Because when people begin collecting art, they’re rarely just buying objects. They’re participating in culture. I wrote a short piece this week breaking down how the primary and secondary art markets actually work for anyone who’s ever wondered where artworks really enter the market. https://lnkd.in/gKZUeAAe