Prisoner Executed and Fed to Fish
Comments OffI couldn’t work out if I found this story funny, revolting, or just insane.. it’s probably a little of all three.
Chilean born Danish shock artist Marco Evaristti has made a deal with death row inmate Gene Hathorn to be fed to fish after his death.
Evaristti told the Art Newspaper that “My aim is to first deep freeze Gene’s body and then make fish food out of it. Visitors to my exhibition will be able to feed goldfish with it.”
The 47 year old Gene Hathorn is on death row in Livingston, Texas, USA after being convicted of killing his father, step-mother, and step-brother.
>> Controversy News
Dakis Joannou’s Jeff Koons Yacht
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The Greek billionaire businessman and art collector Dakis Joannou has had the exterior of his 114 ft luxury yacht designed by Jeff Koons. The owner called his yacht “Guilty” after a Sarah Morris text painting according to the Monaco Eye website.
Joannou launched the yacht with get-together that included art world notables like Nicholas Serota, Jeffrey Deitch, Larry Gagosian, Marian Goodman, Maurizio Cattelan, and Ashley Bickerton.
The closeup of the luxury yacht looks more Roy Lichtenstein than Jeff Koons, but the artist said he was more influenced by WW1 camouflage patterns.
It’s different. I’m not sure Jeff Koons would be my first choice if I had a giant yacht to paint. I might choose Jeff Koons to trim my hedges into giant puppy dogs or to hang hoovers and household items on the wall, but I wouldn’t let him touch my yacht. I would probably call in a minimalist artist and tell him or her to paint it white.
>> Jeff Koons News
Baby Tattooville Art Retreat
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I have always thought of art fairs as money events rather than art events as it’s all about selling and making commercial contacts. If I had to organize an art fair, I would first doubt the sanity of the person that put me in charge, but then I would try and put something together like Baby Tattooville.
It’s an annual event where a small selection of artists and art collectors spend the weekend together. 50 tickets are sold which gives you access to the event, the artists, accommodation for the weekend, talks, demonstrations, and “surprise collectible gifts.” There’s also art for sale, but it doesn’t seem to be the main reason to go to Baby Tattooville.
Some collectors may just want art to hang on the wall and have no desire to learn anything about the artist, but for those that want to get to know the artist behind the art, this is a good opportunity.
The 2008 artists include Ana Bagayan, Glenn Barr, Dave Cooper, Bob Dob, Joe Ledbetter, Brandi Milne, Daniel Peacock, Shag, Amy Sol and Michael Whelan.
Their blurb seems to explain it better than me.. “Baby Tattooville provides a unique opportunity for a small group of celebrated artists and serious collectors to spend time together in a relaxed yet creatively stimulating environment. Without the time constraints of a typical personal appearance, or the crowd control issues of a standing-room-only event, artists and collectors will have a weekend-long opportunity to discuss and explore their mutual interests. Original work will be created and celebrated around-the-clock. No one will leave empty handed. Only 50 event packages are being offered.”
Tickets are $2000 which also includes the hotel room and a goodies package. The Baby Tattooville art retreat is held on the weekend of October 3-5, 2008 at Mission Inn and Spa, Riverside, CA, USA. There’s currently 16 tickets still available. Find out more on their website here.
Marc Quinn’s Solid Gold Kate Moss Sculpture
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I know this is old news, but I have been away from the desk for a bit. The British sculptor Marc Quinn has continued to use the muse of all British artists at the moment; Kate Moss. Miss Moss is now a life-sized solid gold sculpture titled Siren.
Marc Quinn has previously placed Kate Moss in an interesting bronze yoga pose. The teaser photo of the solid gold sculpture that every media outlet seems to have gives little away, so it could be a giant head for all I know.
In a BBC report Mark Quinn said “I thought the next thing to do would be to make a sculpture of the person who’s the ideal beauty of the moment. But even Kate Moss doesn’t live up to the image”
Marc Quinn is the artist that used his own blood to cast a frozen portrait of himself, which is quite eerie. His marble sculpture of a disabled pregnant woman (Alison Lapper)was also a little different.
Lucian Freud and Banksy are among the many artists to use Kate Moss as a model. This Italian page here has a small gallery of other notable artists that have used the British model for art.
Coxsoft news and Balhatain also mentioned the Kate Moss sculpture on their blogs.
The gold Kate Moss sculpture will be shown in an exhibition at the British Museum called “Statuephilia: Contemporary sculptors at the British Museum” from the 4th of October through to the 25th of January (3 days before my birthday!). Sculptors showing will include Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley, Ron Mueck, Marc Quinn and Noble and Webster.
Damien Hirst Production Line
Comments OffI find it interesting that a backlog of about 200 works by Damien Hirst can be news. He’s the closest thing we have to a Britney Spears in the art world, with the media looking for any excuse to publish a story on the man (I realize I do it too). All the art world needs now is some art celebrity sex tapes and some police mug shots of artists that have misbehaved. I would probably subscribe to an art gossip magazine if it was cheap.
Anyway, what was I talking about? I have the flu and I’m taking lots of evil tablets from big pharmaceutical companies, so sticking to the point can be challenging.
The Times Online has reported on Hirst’s “mountainous backlog” of more than 200 works by the artist and his production line sitting in the White Cube gallery in London.
“The items include 34 butterfly paintings dating back to 2005; six medicine cabinets with price tags of up to £2.5m and a batch of 25 fly and resin coated skulls. The “Hirst mountain” held by the White Cube gallery, and detailed in next month’s issue of The Art Newspaper, shows the challenges of selling mass-produced art.” Times Online
In a later Bloomberg report, White Cube’s Jay Jopling said that their stock level for Hirst was normal and the gallery is NOT sitting on a “mountain” of Hirst works.
Jopling said “The appetite for Damien’s art is such that we never have enough and I’m always keen to have as much work on consignment as possible. The market for Hirst was strong and suggestions to the contrary were based on redundant documents.”
It’ll be interesting to see how much more we hear of Damien Hirst as his big auction at Sotheby’s draws closer. I’ll be disappointed if it doesn’t make the 6 o’clock news.
Update: There’s an interesting Damien Hirst interview (video) with Tim Marlow on the Sotheby’s website here.
>> Damien Hirst News
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