Er... how much is that Emin?

11 April 2012

If you bought designer clothes in the Eighties, then sexy Italian furniture for your loft in the Nineties, chances are you will be investing in art right about now. And I'm not talking posters in clip-frames, but original art by respected artists. Even if you're not on the six-figure salary of a City trader, you can currently flirt with an Andy Goldsworthy print for £300 from Alan Cristea. Fancy a drawing by Beck's Futures nominee Simon Bill? Just £500 from Modern Art Inc. Or how about audio works by 1998 Turner Prize nominee Tacita Dean and 2001 Turner Prize nominee Martin Creed? Both under £30 from Camden Arts Centre. Somehow, a new Gucci frock doesn't quite measure up.

If you had started collecting contemporary British art a decade ago, when the YBAs were fresh out of college, your collection, amassed for a few thousand, could now be worth millions. Some collections were started for only a crown or two - Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin's dentist accepted art in lieu of payment for dental work they had done.

But don't feel you've missed the boat - if anything, the success of the YBAs has significantly opened up the market, and collecting art has never been easier or more fun. A new generation of dealers and gallerists have thrown out the traditions of snooty Mayfair service for a more down-to-earth approach that stretches east from Piccadilly to Mile End.

So, it's Saturday morning, you've received a £500 bonus from work, and you want to buy some art. But where do you start?

The obvious way is to visit the dealers who represent thousands of artists across the capital. Shoreditch and the East End boast the highest number of fashionable young dealers but, as they tend to party hard, they don't open their galleries until midday, so head for the West End first, and start at Cork Street, just behind the Royal Academy, a stone's throw from Bond Street.

This has been the heartland of art dealers for decades, and in the Eighties, million-pound deals were the order of the day. Post-recession, and the feel of the street changed - for the better. Many stuffed shirts moved out, and a new wave of predominantly women dealers arrived, including Pippy Houldsworth, Jennifer Hirschl, Alison Jacques and Angela Flowers.

To start your tour, though, visit the specialist contemporary print gallery, Alan Cristea, at number 31, which opens at 10am (others open at 10.30am on Saturdays). Cristea, together with David Roberts, publishes contemporary prints by artists such as Julian Opie (who recently created portraits of Blur) and urban photographer Catherine Yass. Ask David to take you downstairs to see a selection of work for under £500, and don't be surprised to see prints by established artists such as Patrick Caulfield, Andy Goldsworthy and Langlands & Bell. As Roberts says: 'People assume you can't buy work by big names for under £500. However, when buying prints, the one thing to watch out for is edition size - once you get to 200 or 300 you should start to question its value.'

Houldsworth is next door, and its domestic scale makes it a comfortable place in which to view art. Ask to speak to Mariska Nietzman about British painter Matthew Radford and Brit sculptor Laura Ford. Ford's chintz-covered figures were part of the British Art Show 5 last year; here her ceramic multiples (edition of 30) are £350. Nietzman reckons that buying Radford's etchings, £300 to £350, is a safe bet. 'It's a good way in to the work of this very solid, well-established painter,' she says.

While you're in Cork Street, swing by Entwistle, where Darren Flook is happy to talk to you about the work of Al Michael and Kit Lawrence, who both have work at the gallery for under £500; Hirschl Contemporary, where Jennifer Hirschl has paintings for £500 by dream-painter Jane Gifford; and - on Clifford Street - asprey jacques, currently showing RCA graduate Ian Kiaer (until 20 October), and whose mountainous multiple (edition of 20) is a steal at £250.

By now, you'll definitely require a pick-you-up. A pint of Guinness at Mulligans of Mayfair at 14 Cork Street should do the trick; here you can watch the rather incongruous sight of old-school Savile Row besuited dealers (all men) getting blotto alongside denim-clad artists.

From Cork Street, it's a five-minute stroll to Oxford Circus Tube, and from there it's an easy journey on the Central Line to Liverpool Street. It may be the bastion of City boys and girls in the week, but at weekends it has a more bohemian feel, as Gilbert and George have breakfast at Spitalfields Market's Caf? and galleries open their doors. Head up Shoreditch High Street to Stuart Shave's Modern Art Inc on Redchurch Street: one of his backers is Isabella Blow's husband Detmar, so expect a fashionable crowd. Pick up a drawing by Beck's Futures nominee Simon Bill for around £500.

Up in Hoxton, just behind Jay Jopling's pricey White Cube2, is Dominic Berning's gallery at 1 Hoxton Street. He is only open by appointment, but don't be put off: his gallery is on the bottom floor of his three-storey home (which is above the Electricity Showroom, a good place for a beer afterwards) and the domestic setting demonstrates that even crystal shoes and plastic birds on wires can fit comfortably into a home. Jane Mulfinger's clouds etched on glass are £400, and Jane Fawns Watt's bird drawings are £300 framed: prices are kept low as Berning is keen to attract new collectors.

Just up from Hoxton on Hackney Road (at number 37) is Rhodes + Mann, a large gallery run by Benjamin Rhodes and Fred Mann. They'll show you a range of reasonably priced and collectable works ? David Godbold, say, or map prints by young artist Layla Curtis, recently featured in Wallpaper* (edition of 100 from £145).

For lunch, cut down to Bethnal Green Road and visit E Pellicci at number 332, a renowned Italian caf?, for fooda lika Mama used to make (or egg and chips if you prefer; closed Sun). Most of the dealers in the area stop by - Mary Jane Aladren from Nylon can't recommend it highly enough. Her gallery is at 10 Vyner Street, and she is currently showing paintings by Nina Bovasso (to 14 October): prices start, usefully, at £500. She also has foam flower sculptures by Beck's Futures nominee David Burrows and small paintings by Paul Housley, whose solo show recently toured to The Lowry in Manchester and Leeds City Art Gallery.

From here it is only a few minutes' walk to The Approach, at 47 Approach Road. The gallery is on the first floor, reached through a traditional wood-panelled pub which serves great food. The Approach is run by Jake Miller, and the current show is Mari Sunna's figurative paintings (to 14 October), which includes a range of framed ink washes from £400.

If your bank account or feet haven't given way by now, you can catch the number 253/106 buses from Cambridge Heath Road to Whitechapel Tube, take the East London Line to New Cross and walk up Deptford High Street to number 70. Sounds like a lot of work, but it's worth it. For in Deptford, near the railway station, is Hales Gallery, run by diamond geezer Paul Hedge. The gallery is beneath a busy caf? that Hedge ran for years: he gave the Chapman brothers their first show here, and still represents Turner Prize 2000 nominee Tomoko Takahashi, but on the whole he works with less-established artists such as Myra Simpson ? her small drawings are around £500. Before you leave, try the caf?'s cakes, served by members of the band Spinal Workshop, then saunter to the top of Deptford High Street - to Evelyn Street, and catch the number 47 bus to London Bridge.

Here, Snowsfields, which loops round the back of the station, is home to the Percy Miller Gallery, where co-director Bridget Ashley-Miller is building up a selection of works on paper from £250. The current show by Tom Chamberlain and Tracey Rowledge (until 27 October) also includes several pieces under £500. Just have a sniff around.

In case you have not yet had your fill, the rapidly regenerating Southwark area is full of artists' studios, and more and more galleries are moving south of the river. FA Projects has moved next to Tate Modern at 1-2 Bear Gardens ? you can spot it thanks to the neon artwork by Ugo Rondinone on the outside (until 3 November). They produce inexpensive multiples to accompany each show, because, as director Nick Baker says, 'We are very interested in helping new collectors start buying. You then see their passion grow - some have to build extensions for their art at home, as their hobby gets out of control.'

Just the other side of Tate Modern is the Purdy Hicks gallery. Felim Egan, who paints 'lyrical abstracts', has just completed a series of prints with the gallery. Their pre-publication price is below £500 - it's always good value to buy prints pre-publication as the price for good editions tends to rise quickly. They also have five prints called The History of Tears by Alice Maher (£200 each, edition of 15), whose show is at the gallery until 3 November.

After 15 galleries, you probably need another snifter: the Founders Arms, in front of the Tate, is popular with tourists, curators and artists alike. Tate Modern is open until 10pm on Friday and Saturday nights, and its seventh-floor restaurant and fifth-floor caf? (both open until 11pm) are well worth a visit. Or you could chance your arm and get a cab to the French House in Soho (49 Dean Street, W1), where White Cube holds post-private-view dinners, or try St John in Farringdon (26 St John Street, EC1), where YBAs can be found knocking back a hearty red over an Old Spot chop, with associated dealers such as Jay Jopling picking up the tab.

Sunday mornings are usually for hangovers and brunch, but if you still haven't found what you are looking for, you could always try Will's Art Warehouse, on Heathmans Road in Fulham (Parson's Green Tube). If you're bringing a headache with you, beware: the radio is on all day to 'break the ice'. Ex-army dynamo Will Ramsay offers hundreds of inoffensive works for under £500, and he also organises the Affordable Art Fair, which opens next week in Battersea Park (18 to 21 October; tickets 0870 739 9555). Then you can head up to Montana at 125-129 Dawes Road, SW6, for brunch, or the Salisbury Tavern at 21 Sherbrooke Road, SW6, for a slap-up roast lunch.

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