How to find undervalued original art before it blows up

The underrated artists whose work you will wish you had bought in five years are affordable right now. They are putting their work into the world through their own effort and their own resources, which is exactly what tells you they are worth paying attention to.

‍

Go to independent exhibitions

The most reliable signal of a serious practice at an early stage is not press coverage or gallery representation. It is the exhibition that happened anyway, without either of those things. An independent artist who has assembled a coherent body of work, self-funded a show, found a space, handled the logistics, promoted it, and stood in a room with strangers talking about what they made, has demonstrated something that can't be faked: conviction.

That level of commitment, without institutional backing or financial safety net, is what separates a serious practice from a hobby. It is expensive, time-consuming, and completely optional. The artists who do it anyway are the ones building something that will still be standing in a decade. And at that stage, before a gallery takes them on and doubles or triples the price while restricting direct access, the work is as affordable as it will ever be.

Local and regional exhibitions are where this happens most visibly. Open studio events, artist-led shows in non-gallery spaces, degree shows, group exhibitions in smaller venues. They are where the work lives before the market catches up with it.

‍

Ask the people whose taste you already trust

The second route is shorter than most people realise. If you know someone who collects art seriously, or follow people online whose taste you genuinely admire, the artists they have already bought from are almost certainly not the whole picture of what they are watching. What you see in someone's collection is always the tip of the iceberg.

Most collectors are keeping an eye on quite a few artists as they develop their work and know really niche hidden gems in the art world. They also tend to have a whole network of art advisors, artists, curators, and fellow colelctors.

People who care about art almost always love talking about it. Asking someone whose collection you respect which underrated artists they are currently watching, or who they recommend based on your taste, is a great shortcut to grab some of that undervalued art for your collection. The insight is already in your network. It just requires asking for it directly.

‍

What you are looking for

The combination of independent exhibition history and a coherent body of work is the clearest signal available at the affordable end of the market. It tells you the artist has the discipline to finish things, the conviction to show them, and the independence to do it on their own terms. Those qualities do not disappear when a gallery arrives. They are what the gallery was attracted to in the first place, and they are what will sustain the practice long after the prices have moved.

The themes running through all of Roman's work sit at the intersection between matter and consciousness, at a time when being human is rapidly being reduced to data and productivity. His work is available directly from the studio, across a range of formats and price points, each piece certified and delivered from his studio in Birmingham, UK.