Image via Complex Original
There’s always excitement in discovering rare furnishings for your new place or adding awesomeness to your current home. More often than not, though, we think that we can't afford work by well-known artists, because they're too busy breaking auction records and counting stacks of cash to think of us. This is simply not true. If you keep your ear to the streets of the Internet, you'll see that big artists are making cheap items for us peasants on the low.
For the creative souls who live art (or want to stunt and live the #artlife a bit), explore this list of 20 Affordable Art Pieces For Your Home Under $100.
RELATED: 25 Awesome Prints Under $200 You Can Buy Right Now
RELATED: 25 Posters Of Famous Artworks You Can Buy Right Now
FriendsWithYou's "The Boy"
Price: $20.00
Need a bookshelf buddy or the cool version of a teddy bear? Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III of FriendsWithYou explore the realm of experimental and psychedelic art, doing huge commissions all over the world, but now, there's something for you, too. The Boy (Plush) was created as a post-pop visual that promotes "magic, luck, and friendship."
John Baldessari's Woman With Pillow Pillowcases
Price: $90.00
The LA-based godfather of conceptual art John Baldessari refuses to leave a medium untouched on his quest to find beauty, drama, and art in the ordinary. Baldessari silkscreened 100% cotton sateen pillowcases with an image from a Hollywood still (from his 2003 piece Woman With Pillow) for The Thing Quarterly. It's not just for single people who sleep alone at night, and on a bed, it'll compliment any setup you have.
David Choe's "Munko" Plush Toy
Price: $28.00
David Choe is known for his chaotic murals and paintings that blend colorful characters with dynamic lines and fragmented portraits. One of his favorite creatures to depict is a buck-toothed whale known as Munko. Thanks to Upper Playground, you can bring home a Munko of your own with their irresistible plush toy. According to Choe, "When you are with Munko, you just be, and you will finally be at peace with your fucking self."
Special Edition GARAGE Tattoos
Price: £20.00
Raymond Pettibon, Damien Hirst, Dinos Chapman, John Baldessari, and Jeff Koons have made it possible to wear your own artist-designed temporary tattoos for the low price of £20. Thank the clever folks at GARAGE magazine later.
Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari's "I Love You" Mug
Price: $20.00
Maurizio Cattelan's sculptures are both uncomfortable and hilarious, like La Nona Ora, which has the pope being struck down by a meteor. Now, he has brought his biting aesthetic to a set of tableware. Working with Pierpaolo Ferrari, who co-founded their avant garde magazine Toilet Paper, the artist has brought surreal images from the magazine onto plates and cups. The "I Love You Mug" is perfect for anyone who has a dark sense of humor (or wants a good conversation starter with guests).
Olafur Eliasson's "Little Sun"
Price: $28.00
Developed by artist Olafur Eliasson and solar engineer Frederik Ottesen, "Little Sun" seeks to deliver clean, affordable, and reliable light to the 1.6 billion people worldwide without access to the electricity. Purchase one of these solar-powered LED lamps for your back patio or night reading, and you make it possible for Little Suns to be given to off-grid communities in need.
Alex Prager's Crowd #4 (New Haven) Puzzle
Price: $75
To coincide with her recent exhibition in D.C. and New York titled "Face in the Crowd," the Corcoran Gallery released a puzzle featuring one of Alex Prager's photographs. Prager is known for her staged images, and for this recent exhibition, she created a movie and photographs that capture the experience of being caught in a crowded street. Because her images are staged, she strides the line between dream and reality, theater and life. The Corcoran's puzzle lets you create Prager's Crowd #4 (New Haven) from 500 cardboard pieces.
Bryan Nash Gill's "Woodcut" Notecards
Price: $14.00
Jot down your To-Dos, brainstorming, and reminders on relief printed note cards based on the book Woodcut by Connecticut artist Bryan Nash Gill. He captures beautiful, intricate patterns of the rings and ridges in wood outside of his studio then transfers these beautiful designs from tree to paper (or tree to tree).
Tracey Emin's Beach Towel
Price: $95.00
Tracey Emin's towel is part of Art Production Fund's WOW (Works on Whatever), which is a collection of everyday items designed by artists. APF invites artists to experiment with the latest commercial materials and techniques to bring art off walls and physically into homes and everyday life. For $95 you can use this personal, intimate, and poetically humorous towel for the beach or after a shower.
Burgerac and Rob Flowers' "Burgermat" Tray
Price: $42.00
What better way to eat with good taste than by topping off your burger and fries with the Burgerax x Rob Flowers Burgermat Tray? When the careless company comes through, pull out this piece of art. When they're not being used, prop them up on display in your kitchen.
Ryan McGinness' Blacklight Nudie Cards
Price: $35
Set the mood with these Blacklight Nudie Cards instead of just any old set. Each card is infinitely more exciting than the regular playing card, and they'd look good even casually strewn about a table when you're not using them.
Yoko Ono's Grow Love with Me Canned Bean
Price: $33.50
Artist, filmmaker, poet, musician, writer, performance artist, and peace activist Yoko Ono is a pioneer of conceptual art. Bring life into your home with this fast-growing message bean plant; the word love eventually sprouts from the can.
Jeff Koons Plate Edition with Bernardaud
Price: $98.00
For their second WOW plate edition designed by Jeff Koons, Bernardaud had Koons present a stunning image of four people in an unbelievable yet graceful balancing act. For each plate purchased, APF will make a donation to the Koons Family Institute, a resource of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.
Louise Bourgeois's Tapestry Coasters
Price: $28.00
Louise Bourgeois was a French-American artist and sculptor known for her spider structures and web-like paintings. These works were created in the 90th decade when Bourgeois started empowering herself to accept the past, weave things together, and keep things whole. Reproduced by Third Draw Down, Bourgeois' final tapestries are recaptured on these beverage coasters.
Lawrence Weiner's Xx Yy Wooden Blocks
Price: $65.00
Lawrence Weiner stacks and builds words, and his work usually takes the form of typographic texts. Weiner's Limited Edition Xx Yy Wooden Blocks can serve as an interactive centerpiece for your kitchen or living room table.
Magritte Plate Set
Price: $96
Host a truly Surreal dinner party with plates featuring the works of René Magritte. This flatware was created by MoMA to coincide with their wildly popular exhibition "Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926–1938." The set of plates includes Magritte's iconic images (a pipe, an apple, and a hat), as well as other elements of the paintings The Horror Cap, The Smile of the Devil, The Cut-Glass Bath, This is not an apple, and The Treachery of Images. Can't afford the whole set? Each plate costs $16.
Craig Damrauer and David Shrigley's Tea Towels
Price: $30.00
There's guaranteed amusement to be had with Craig Damrauer and David Shrigley's tea towels. These artists, who are known for their bizarre, humorous, and somewhat sarcastic works can add some laughs to tea time.
Snarkitecture's "Pillow"
Price: $68.00
This tongue-in-cheek product from Brooklyn artist duo Snarkitecture will make you treat your iPhone like a newborn baby. Always thinking about structure and design in new ways, Snarkitecture has used their iconic white aesthetic to create a pillow for your iPhone. Although it looks like a soft fluffy bed, this pillow is actually cast from gypsum cement that maintains the folds and creases even when the phone is removed.
Daniel Arsham, Eric Cahan, Wim Delvoye, Kon Trubkovich, Jon Kesslers, and Andrew Kuo's Yoga Mats
Price: $80.00
For those who can appreciate eco-friendly products, the Grey Area teamed up with Daniel Arsham, Eric Cahan, Wim Delvoye, Kon Trubkovich, Jon Kessler, and Andrew Kuo so they could make the yoga mat their canvas.
Sanford Biggers' "Cheshire Smile" Light
Price: $50.00
Sanford Biggers references the infamous cat from Alice in Wonderland whose mysterious Cheshire Smile can light up dark spaces (and dark times, too).