by Mara Seigler, Page Six
Former Knick Amar’e Stoudemire has immersed himself in the art scene, saying his goal is to become “a legit and serious collector. It’s for my children — when they get older they can look back and say my father had this art in 2015,” the dad of three said during at a Surface magazine Design Dialogues event Tuesday at the W Hotel South Beach.
Stoudemire, who joined the Miami Heat this year, works with a team to help him pick pieces.
“I have a pretty strong advisory group that I chat with on a normal basis just to be fully equipped and knowledgeable on the market,” he said. “Emerging artists are risky, so you want to make sure that you’re surrounded by good people who know the most about art and who will lead you in the right direction.”
Stoudemire name-checked street artist Retna, who recently did the album art for Justin Bieber‘s “Purpose,” as someone he’s interested in.
The baller added, “A lot of athletes are so submersed in training and becoming the best that we can possibly be, so tunnel-vision to that … hopefully the rest of us will catch up soon and educate themselves and become collectors.”
Amar’e was previously involved in the fashion world. “It all depends on what you want to spend your money on — you want to buy a painting or you want to buy a Balmain jacket. You have to look good while buying art,” he quipped. Joining him on the panel was real estate developer and art collector Robbie Antonio.
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