Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to announce The Young Collectors Exhibition, on view from December 18th to January 12, 2013. The Young Collectors Exhibition is a show of works from a number of the gallery’s artists plus a wide selection of works by international emerging artists who are not represented by the gallery. Curated for the emerging collector, this exhibition features artworks priced between $500 and $5,000. A pre-sale of The Young Collectors Exhibition will take place from Friday, November 23 until Saturday, December 15 on Paddle8, the online art destination, at http://www.paddle8.com/forgood/leilaheller

Alexandra Wagle and Laura Mintz have curated The Young Collectors Exhibition. “Our intention in putting together this exhibition was to de-mystify the gallery environment, bringing together an aesthetically diverse range of affordable works to help new collectors develop their eye and encourage them to begin investing in art,” says Wagle. “We view the exhibition space as a re-imagination of the old salon, creating an opportunity for young collectors to engage with artists that they may not normally have access to.”

“Making the gallery setting less intimidating, and building a forum in which affordable art also holds aesthetic value is imperative to maintaining the interest in the investment of art among the next generation of collectors,” says Mintz. “We believe that creating an accessible environment in which young people can engage with art is an integral part of the future of collecting.”

The Young Collectors Exhibition features 100 works from over 30 artists including Richard Fleischner (a series of textured, geometric photographs of the LeWitt House in Praiano, Italy), Karl Mann (Untitled (Lips), Untitled (Gorilla), Untitled (Tongue), Untitled (Parrot), Alexander Yulish (who has worked with creative greats such as Ash Cohen and David Lynch), Zac Buehner, Ken Gonzales-Day, Jason Castro, Philip Smith, Martin Saar, Kezban Arca Batibeki, Julia Mandle, Connie Samaras, Alexis Laurent, Rachel Lee Hovnanian, and Firooz Zahedi, among others.

10% of the sales from The Young Collectors Exhibition will be donated to the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, which has recently set up a Hurricane Sandy relief fund for visual artists. This is the first time that the Pollock-Krasner Foundation has accepted financial support from an outside source. “We at the Pollock-Krasner Foundation are deeply concerned for the welfare of the artists affected by the Hurricane Sandy disaster,” says Charles Bergman, Chairman and CEO of the foundation. “We are delighted to partner with the organizers of Leila Heller Gallery’s Young Collectors Exhibition and appreciate their generosity, as we are currently accepting emergency requests for grants to professional visual artists, which will be expedited under the Foundation’s guidelines.” Artists wishing to apply for grants should visit http://www.pkf.org/

The Young Collectors Exhibition is made possible with the support of Zac Posen, Champagne Perrier-Jouet, Chantecaille Cosmetics, Town & Country magazine, and No. 8.