駐紐約藝術家Jeremy Couillard原本是一名高中西班牙文教師，但在課堂之外，他投入大量時間創作複雜精細的漫畫和墨水畫。後來，他進入哥倫比亞大學攻讀藝術碩士，專心學習繪畫。但他很快感到厭倦：「我發現自己花在螢幕前的時間比在現實中的時間還多，因此科技話題越來越吸引我。甚至在畫畫時，我也大多是盯著電腦螢幕。」

因此，Couillard自學了程式設計，並開始嘗試動畫和3D遊戲創作工具虛幻引擎（Unreal Engine）。如今，他以創作敘事荒誕且帶有超現實主義風格的遊戲而聞名，比如《Escape from Lavender Island》（2023）。這款遊戲也在他目前於麻省理工學院李斯特視覺藝術中心（MIT List Visual Arts Center）舉辦的個展中佔據核心位置。觀眾可以坐在豆袋沙發上，化身遊戲主角Zede Aksis。這個綠色的雙足生物在監獄牢房中醒來，發現自己的反烏托邦城市夢境變成了現實。玩家的任務是逃離這個霓虹閃爍的恐怖都市。在逃亡中，他們追隨愛慕的物件，為舞蹈駐足，甚至可以戴上向路人噴射藥物的面具。Couillard談到這款帶有達達主義色彩的遊戲時說：「它關乎在城市中作為人類的生存體驗。遊戲很荒謬，但也的確非常悲涼。我想通過這款遊戲捕捉生存在當今社會的狀態。」

此次展覽還展示了一部隱隱透著詭秘氣息的視頻裝置，鏡頭掃過「Lavender Island」（薰衣草島）上奇異社區，伴隨著城市居民的旁白。不遠處，數碼繪製的木質花朵沿著地面綻放，牆上是幾幅色彩斑斕的畫作，猶如從遊戲中直接擷取的畫面。牆上還掛著一件滑稽的超大號螢光黃衛衣，上面印著「Depression」（抑鬱）。

展覽詼諧地批判了科技在社會中造成的疏離與隔閡。Couillard表示：「這種現象令人沮喪，但也讓人啼笑皆非，因為我們正在構建一個幾乎無人嚮往的科技世界，卻仍然義無反顧地向前推進。這個遊戲叫做《Escape from Lavender Island》（逃離薰衣草島），但在某種意義上，我們無法逃離現代生活。無論是福是禍，我們註定相伴。但我相信這終究是件好事，只要我們學會和彼此相處。」

The collector, who is a partner at London law firm Quinn Emanuel, says Gen X are also likely to be seen at smaller gallery dinners where the artist might be present. ‘I do not see the same with millennials,’ Fichardt says. ‘I see them at the larger, more crowded and cooler opening parties. They usually know the artists personally and they stay until late. Gen X tend to leave those parties early, if they attend at all.’

Gen X are also more prone to working with art advisors, according to a separate study published as part of the Survey of Global Collecting. The survey reveals that the Association of Professional Art Advisors  works most frequently with Gen X collectors, who account for 43% of the overall sample. The next largest generational group of clients is boomers, followed closely by millennials. Fichardt says she observes many Gen X collectors working with advisors, often in cases where the advisor is the only way they can access a particular artist. ‘Accessing art remains a problem with some galleries who require you to pay to play – a process where you buy a work you might not like to support the gallery’s program, which in turn enables you to buy the work you want,’ she says. ‘It’s an approach that has many flaws, and never benefits the artists concerned.’

Auction leaders

Gen X are making their presence felt at auction, too. According to Sotheby’s latest figures, which combine luxury and fine art, Gen X are the most active bidders, while Gen X and boomers are the most active buyers. In 2024, Gen X and Boomers spent more than any other generation, each accounting for just shy of a third of the total spend. These figures, released to Art Basel, echo the findings of the Sotheby’s Insight Report, published in December 2023. That report noted that Gen X bidders had become the most important demographic in the USD 1 million-plus fine art market for the first time, accounting for 40.2% of bidders and overtaking the boomer generation, which accounted for 39.5% of bidders. Chiming with the Survey of Global Collecting, millennials were found to be less active, representing 13.5% of bidders in the first 6 months of 2023, down from 16% in 2022. As the Sotheby’s report highlights, the USD 1 million to USD 10 million range is often the first port of call for Gen X buyers, many of whom then escalate over time to higher and higher spending levels.

What does Gen X buy?

According to the same Sotheby’s report, Gen X and millennials are also particularly active in emerging art markets, such as the one for the street artist Banksy (where they account for 84% of bidders) and the contemporary sculptor KAWS (81%).

The Colorado-based collector Ronnie K. Pirovino was one of the first to extensively collect KAWS, beginning in the early 2000s. Working as a creative director in advertising, Pirovino was particularly drawn to the street artist’s early ‘ad disruptions,’ when KAWS would crank open bus shelter advertising casings and remove the posters inside, painting cartoonish faces over the models with crosses for eyes. From there, Pirovino started collecting as an art world outsider, amassing a trove of KAWS collectibles via message boards – online sites where information was exchanged before the advent of social media (such message boards are still very active for artists such as Banksy).

In 2015, the collector says he had ‘an existential moment’ and decided that he had ‘taken his KAWS journey as far as it could go.’ Over the next 4 years, Pirovino sold off his KAWS works privately and via auction; his 2018 sale at Heritage Auctions in Dallas set 50 records.

Since then, Pirovino has diversified his collection to include emerging artists such as Adieny Nuñez and José Lerma as well as Robert Nava, Jonathan Chapline, and Julie Curtiss. ‘I’m looking at Latin America a lot as that reflects my cultural background,’ he says. Pirovino also collects NFTs by CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Pak, and Beeple, among others.

Though the art world has been historically slow to adapt to digital innovations, Pirovino thinks we are on the cusp of real change, particularly as the digitally native millennial and Gen Z groups rise up through the ranks. As it currently stands, Gen X are well placed to straddle the analog and digital landscapes.

However, the cliché that young collectors are attracted to non-traditional or digital mediums is not borne out in the findings of the Survey of Global Collecting. Gen Z (and Gen X) respondents have the highest share of paintings (28%), while Boomers have the lowest (22%).

As Gen X work their way up to the top of the art market, their spending on painting is increasing. In the first half of 2024, Gen X HNWIs expenditure on painting averaged USD 89,330, ahead of millennials (USD 74,290) and nearly four times the level of boomer and Gen Z buyers. Fichardt started out collecting works on paper – her first purchase was a mixed media blue iris by William Kentridge – graduating to paintings as her income increased. Her collection is now 80% large-scale painting, 15% sculpture and ceramics, and 5% works on paper.

Historically, baby boomers have dominated the top of the art market, but that too is changing. According to the Sotheby’s Insight Report, between 2018 and the first half of 2023, boomers accounted for an average of 41% of the bidding activity among the top 50 artists, followed by Gen X (30%) and millennials (23%). Now the younger generations are making their presence felt at the highest end of the market: according to Sotheby’s, Gen X and millennials made up 38% of bidders in the Picasso market in the first half of 2023 and 57% of potential buyers in the Basquiat market.

With Gen X set to inherit USD 30 trillion in the Great Wealth Transfer over the next 10 years, their spending power and dominance in the art market is certain to surge. With tastes more diverse than their boomer predecessors, all eyes are on which artists – or luxury objects – they will splurge on.