(image via nonfamous)
"I don't sell my work by the yard."
--Hannah and her Sisters.
Pickled sharks notwithstanding (Averted Gaze), Art is dead. Then again, Art never stood a goddam chance. It is so much easier to be loud and garrish and mildly clever than to be subtle and serious and profound in getting across an aesthetic point. And in a world of diminishing attention spans and gauche billionaires ascending who don't have the time to learn about Art, to develop a sense of taste, the clever artist-businessmen -- those lauded by one Peter Brant -- are going to make out like gangbusters. And so they have From The AP:
"A sale of pickled sharks, butterfly paintings and other pieces by provocative British artist Damien Hirst has raised $198 million, silencing his doubters and defying the global economic gloom.
"Sotheby's auction house said the total for the two-day sale was a record for an auction of works by a single artist.
"The turmoil engulfing global financial markets did nothing to dampen prices as more than 600 prospective buyers packed the showroom for each of the three auction sessions. Others around the world bid by phone.
"'The Kingdom,' a tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde, sold for $17 million in the first session Monday evening. 'The Golden Calf' — an embalmed calf with golden hooves and horns — fetched $18.5 million.
"... Sotheby's said the total smashed the $20 million record for an auction of works of a single artist set in 1993 for 88 works by Pablo Picasso."
Damien Hirst is not fit to clean Picasso's paintbrush. But tell that to the oligarchs who have the disposable cash and blank walls fiending for some garish pseudo-art.
There's my rant.
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