The (Sad) Affordable Art Fair

I just looked through the website of the upcoming Affordable Art Fair in New York City, which has lined up more than 75 galleries. Is there such a thing as an infallible taste for bad art? It's painful to think of newbie collectors attending this event with the expectation that a lot of good art will be available for—how lucky—under $5,000. The art world actually offers quite a bit of good art for less than $5,000, but you need to know who and where. Newbie collectors need to understand that top galleries instinctively steer away from anything that sounds down-market, even if their backrooms contain excellent work in the lower price range.