Christian reaps the rewards of Monopoly game
MAN SELLS COLLECTION OF BOARDS TO SET UP HIS OWN ART BUSINESS
WHEN Christian Azolan moved back to his mother’s house in Hayes in June 2019, something needed to change.
There were 280 Monopoly boards in the spare room that he and his partner were sharing – a collection Christian had accumulated since he was 14.
Christian, 38, had returned home during lockdown to look after his 75-year-old mother, who was undergoing cancer treatment.
It was an uncertain time for him – he had just quit his long-term job as a corporate brand manager to launch his own art business, named Christian Azolan Art.
Although Christian had consciously been collecting Monopoly boards – friends and family would also pick up foreign editions for him when they went on holiday – he had not realised he was sitting on a potential goldmine.
“I had no idea at all of their value,” says Christian. “I knew I had a couple in there that were really rare, but I didn’t think to myself ‘oh yeah, they’re worth lots of money’.”
So when Christian sold the collection for £9,000, it was an unexpected windfall. Crucially, it gave him the capital he needed to kickstart his business.
Christian’s highest-earning board sold for £500 (more than 20 times the price he bought it for).
lt was a limited edition, factorysealed Japanese board which featured a TV programme called Rayman.
“The only way to describe it is like a Japanese version of the Power Rangers,” said Christian.
Another rare board, and favourite of Christian’s, was a Hong Kong commemoration board from 1997 when the territory was handed back to China from Britain.
Otherwise, the boards were sold to special collectors online, whilst a number went to the Guinness Record Holder for Monopoly boards, Neil Scallan, who also lives in Hayes.
“I used the money to start my online business,” says Christian, who paid a web developer to set up his Amazon store, build his shop and develop his brand.
“It made a big difference because obviously the online marketplace opened up the whole of Europe to me.”
Before leaving the corporate world, Christian had been lecturing in digital media at Brunel University. With a degree in fashion, he would spend his weekends illustrating or experimenting with digital art, but he says: “I didn’t really think about the business or doing art as a full-time job until we were actually in lockdown.
“Covid gave me that release, really, in terms of having the time to think about what I wanted to do next.”
Christian had been uploading pictures of his work to Instagram, but the turning point came with a phone call from his friend Gemma.
She told him she loved the paintings, encouraged him to set up a business and commissioned two pieces of work.
It forced him to formalise the business – get a bank account, set up an invoicing system and build an online shop.
He also joined the Amazon Small Business Accelerator Programme, a scheme which offers free support, online learning and bootcamp events for fledgling businesses.
With the pandemic grinding established companies to a halt, did setting up a new one feel like a risk?
“I think [starting] any business is a risk, but I just thought ‘how can I make it work long-term? How can I do this in this new way that people are consuming and buying online?’”
Christian had some savings, while moving in with his mum gave him the freedom to invest in his new venture. And, of course, it brought him back to his lucrative Monopoly board collection.
“My art business has to pay for itself – it’s not a hobby, it’s an actual career,” says Christian. “That was my mindset at the very beginning.”
Now, a year on, Christian Azolan Art is reaping the rewards of that careful planning.
It is on track to turn over its first £50,000 in just over a year – especially impressive considering that few UK start-ups break even in their first year.
Christian is also represented by Ice Gallery in Windsor and his work is being exhibited at a Design District show in November.
Alongside his business, he is also studying for an MA in fine art from Central St Martins and teaching digital media, fashion illustration and private art classes.
Christian has been “getting a lot more notice” recently, but says: “Just as long as I’ve got a business that maintains and sustains itself, and then I can have a couple of little shows every year – I think that’s how I want it to be.”
Christian’s lockdown collection,
The Birds, depicts birds always against the moon or sun and often offset by bright colours.
Although they had always been there, Christian says he noticed the starlings in the sky for the first time as he sat in his mother’s living room during lockdown.
“There was something about the murmurations of starlings moving as one, because they all have to work together – there’s safety in numbers. I think that’s what we were doing as well, being locked down together. We had to get through it together,” he said.
“I wanted to keep the series positive and upbeat – that’s why there’s a moon or sun in every single one of them. It’s about the passing of time – you know, in time, things will change and it will get better.”
Christian’s work is digital and characterised by a simple, practical and minimalist style.
“It’s also affordable,” he said. “It’s not about selling expensive art, it’s about creating art that people want to put in their homes. They’re also limited edition.”
Christian is currently working on a project called Little Black Girls, a series of 21 portraits of girls aged between five and 15 which is intended to diversify the portrayal of black girls in art. It will be exhibited at Fitzrovia Chapel next March.
Christian is not your average artist – at least he does not conform to the whimsical stereotype.
During our conversation, he speaks about his achievements with a quiet confidence – there’s a careful pragmatism which suggests, despite the unexpectedness of his journey, that perhaps this is what he intended all along.
In any case, his message – that art can be more than a hobby – is refreshing.
“I would say to people, whatever your creativity is, whatever you want do, just do it, explore it, go out there, go to galleries, go to museums. We live in London and we have one of the best art scenes in the world,” he said.
“Explore new things as well – explore contemporary art, digital art. There isn’t just one type of art, or one type of creativity.”