The surprising pop art collection of a local top real estate agent
Rather than a typical minimalist approach, with a handful of trophy pieces by well-known artists, there is a much more magpie-like quality to his collection. O’Brien says it’s effectively a timeline of his adult life, an homage to his family, the places he’s been, the relationships, the successes, the ‘not so’ successes. Looking at the vast array of moods on the walls across dozens of canvases, it seems he’s had an eventful life for a man in his late-40s. “This isn’t all of my collection,” he says, unable to suppress a smile.
It’s a little hard to link such an eclectic and funky art collection with the clean-cut image you see on his real estate signs around town. But his history is more colourful than you’d expect. “I bought my first pieces of collectible art when I owned a boutique record store in Auckland around 2000. I had just got back from working as a DJ in Japan and this Frank Kozik piece really reminded me of my time over there.” A tattooed, globetrotting DJ, with a bit of High Fidelity-era John Cusack thrown in? So much for clean cut.
Because his tastes tend towards pop art, there are a lot of faces staring out at you, from the playful to the macabre. A piece he loves is of former US President Clinton, one of the few pieces he commissioned himself (from 12 Gallery). It’s a Warhol-inspired piece that shows the president smoking his infamous Lewinsky cigar with the words Boys Nation. It’s a surprising homage. “I’ve always been fascinated by Bill Clinton. He was such a flawed and human figure. He made some mistakes in his life, then tried to lie his way out of them. Yet he did a lot of good things as well and had such amazing charisma. I think we can all relate to that. Your heart’s in the right place, but no one is perfect,” he says.
With such a collection, does the man who sells blue chip property see art as an investment? “I rarely sell paintings. All my art is so personal to me. Tells my story I guess”
O’Brien pauses for a moment and then says, “The art I buy changes like the weather. I still enjoy paintings I bought many years ago, but I wouldn’t necessarily choose them again today. I’m a different person now. Life’s a journey and each piece is like a landmark along the way.”