A Sign of the Times

With contemporary artistic practice progressing and evolving at a fever pitched rate combined with the rapidly growing art market that rewards innovation, uniqueness and experimentation, it is becoming harder and harder for artists to stand out from the crowd and get noticed. The art market boom has caused an unprecedented appetite for contemporary art that has resulted in an increase in the number of artists being marketed by galleries and dealers. To compensate for the increased competition for representation and attention, artists are now needing to really think outside the box and come up with ways of attracting as much as attention as possible without affecting their credibility.

My research into this subject was sparked by a press release that I received in my inbox that was announcing the unveiling of a new artwork at a secret location in Beverley Hills in May by an artist who goes by the name of Rophar (http://www.rophar.com). What is so special about this painting that it needs to be unveiled I hear you ask, well, for starters it is adorned with over 250 carats of diamonds including multiple 4,5,6 and 7 carat stones with an accumulated value of $10 million dollars. Oh, and the asking price is US$110,000,000. According to the press release this painting, titled “Menagerie” has been commissioned by a fabulously wealthy countess who prefers to remain anonymous. How intriguing.

Another artist who has attracted his fair share of attention is Tim Patch who, as his pseudonym Pricasso suggests, paints portraits of people using his penis. To create his work Patch dips his penis in paint and applies it to the canvas, which is smoother than the average painting surface to prevent any un-necessary chafing. Pricasso?s controversial methods have gained him extensive press and fame all over the world resulting in a high demand for his “services” at events such as Sexpo where he paints in front of an audience. This year Pricasso has also entered one of his paintings into the highly prestigious, and traditional, Australian Archibald Portrait Prize. Guess whose Archibald Prize entry received the most publicity and media attention, none other than Pricasso.

Artists Anthony White and Marcel Salathe, of the infamous duo Salathe and White, recently started an ambitious and unique project that involves auctioning off their collaborative paintings along with a guarantee to buy them back at a specific price, which is indicated on the painting, upon the safe return of said painting during a specified month. According to the artists - each painting is a bond or more precisely a zero coupon bond?. The first “bond” painting auctioned off had a face value of US$1063 and sold for US$1286. The result of the unique concept and successful sale was significant media attention.

All these artists have attracted attention to their work and gained exposure by going above and beyond the traditional expectations of what an artist should be and do. People are receiving so much stimulation from tv, movies, computers, mobile phones, the internet etc. that the act of entertaining ones self by enjoying and appreciating a painting has become somewhat obsolete, especially for the young people of today. In order to be commercially successful many artists are not able to just be artists any more but are having to take on the role of entertainer, promoter and advertiser. A sign of the times I suppose.

Image: “The Countess” by Rophar

Created by Nicholas Forrest On 02/28/08 At 09:03 AM