Running into murals like these unexpectedly while driving through is what I live for. Found between 5th and 6th St on Anderson. Herakut (@herakut) on the left and Ron English (@ronenglishart) on the right.
– Los Angeles, CA
Author: Tim
Another Visit to The Broad Museum – Creature
Since the museum opened in late 2015, the Broad has been regularly putting on new exhibitions and quietly rotating works on the 3rd floor walls, which contain a part of the permanent Broad Collection. Currently, an installation titled Creature is on view on the 1st floor galleries. The works presented in the show are directly from the museum’s collection, but loosely center around a theme of man and animal as physical amalgamations of fear, sex, vanity, and experiences. The theme is vague enough that the curators of the show probably a lot of fun picking out their favorite pieces for the show. Broad favorites like Takashi Murakami (@takashipom), Damien Hirst, and George Condo are well represented.
The installation is on view until Sunday, March 19th, at the Broad Museum.
– Los Angeles, CA
Jeff Koons Convicted of “Counterfeiting” by a French Court
A French court has ruled that Jeff Koons’ edition of sculptures titled Naked (1988) is a plagiarism of a black & white photograph by the late Jean-Francois Bauret. Jeff Koons LLC and Centre Pompidou, the institution that hosted the artist’s retrospective that featured the scultpure, have been ordered to pay €20,000 to the estate of the photographer, another €20,000 for their legal cost, and another €4,000 in fines, totaling around $46,500. Considering that Koons’ works regularly sell for $millions at auction and that this isn’t his first plagiarism conviction, this is not really news worthy of the press that it’s been getting this week.
However, court rulings like this do muddy where the fine line in creativity lie. Being that this sculpture is in a completely different medium with novel elements like color and flower arrangement, I would have ventured a guess to say this is technically an original work by Koons. Then again, I’m no expert. According to the ruling, these changes “do not prevent one from recognizing and identifying the models and the pose”, and so it is a plagiarism.
It’s not uncommon for artists to use others’ photographs as reference for paintings or original work and leave recognizable remnants of the original photo in the final work, so when is it ok and when is it not ok? This lawsuit just seems like a quick cash-grab by Bauret’s widow, and in the process the court meddled in defining what’s considered a creative effort. Although Koons’ Naked may look similar in appearance to the Bauret photograph, it clearly does not evoke the same feeling from its viewers as the photograph does. Isn’t that novel in itself?
Here is the Bauret photograph. What do you think?
Banksy Returns to the West Wall with a New Venture – Walled-Off Hotel
Less than two years since the massively successful resort venture Dismaland in Weston-super-Mare, Bristol, the notorious street artist/performance master Banksy opened a hotel venture today in one of the most contentious and dangerous part of the world in Bethlehem, just steps away from the West Bank wall. There wasn’t even a rumbling of this project on the Internet before today, so I was very surprised to see this news come out this morning. Named Walled-Off Hotel (sounds a lot like Waldorf, no?), it is a 10-room hotel managed and staffed by locals of the city and full of new works created by Banksy.
Reservation opens on March 11th, and guests will be able to stay in the rooms beginning March 20th. It is complete with a classic piano bar where music greats like Elton John and Massive Attack will be playing remotely through an automated piano, a gallery where Palestine artwork will be showcased, and a museum depicting the history of the West Bank in classic Banksy style.
The rooms themselves range from $30 for a bunk in the Budget room to $300 Presidential suite where you can feel like a sociopathic despot. Every room is furnished with interior decoration by Banksy, which seems like a logistic nightmare with entrepreneurial fans who might try their hand at acquiring a new Banksy work. To curb those efforts, there is a $1000 deposit for guests, although that seems like pennies when Banksy’s works sell for hundreds of thousands at auction. In addition, there is a check-out inspection to ensure no work has been defaced or taken from the room. I guess that should discourage foul-play. This is probably one of the few hotels in the world where you actually want to look at the art in the room.
Walled-Off Hotel is a quiet protest against the on-going political and military Israel-Palestine conflict that are affecting the ordinary citizens, but also a gift to these very citizens that are suffering because of it. I’m not going to pretend that I know much of what’s going on out there, but it’s not hard to imagine that thousands of new tourists will be coming by Bethlehem to pay pilgrimage to the hotel, which means a big boon for the local economy. According to the FAQ, Banksy is planning on keeping the hotel open for the year, but probably will be open as long as there are guests. I just hope the short attention span of today’s culture doesn’t let this establishment be forgotten too quick, leaving the local workers of this hotel jobless. This isn’t Banksy’s first time in the West Bank though, so clearly Israel-Palestine conflict is an issue that he cares deeply about.
The hotel piano bar, art gallery, and museum are open to non-guests, but you’ll have to be a paying guest if you want to visit a room. For those who cannot visit the hotel in person, it looks like a web shop called Wall-Mart (this sounds a lot like the retail giant Wal-Mart, no?) is going to open on March 20th. Based on what I’ve read, I’m not holding my breath for new Banksy prints, but I believe there will be at least Walled-Off Hotel themed paraphernalia.
I never thought that we’d ever call Banksy a hotelier.
Here are a few links for more information on this new hotel.
Official website for the Walled-Off Hotel
‘Worst view in the world’: Banksy opens hotel overlooking Bethlehem wall
Invader Levels Up with “Hello My Game Is” @ Le Musee en Herbe
The anonymous French artist Space Invader is currently showing his latest exhibition called Hello My Game Is at Le Musee en Herbe in Paris, France. According to museum press release, this is Invader’s first indoor exhibition in Paris since 2011. Being that his work brings nostalgia back to our youthful days with 8-bit video games, it seems fitting that his museum show is at a children’s museum, although that is not to say it isn’t equally entertaining and engaging for the adult fans of Invader. The more surprising part is that a children’s museum invited a notorious street “vandal” (Invader has been arrested several times as a vandal for placing his works on the street), but I think that’s more a statement on how street art in general has become accepted by the worldwide mainstream.
His usual repertoire of works is well represented here, from sculptures to invasion “aliases” like those seen on the streets and “Rubik Cubism” works that are usually seen at his gallery shows. The subject matters of the works are just as wide ranging. My favorite work is the scene from the Disney movie Peter Pan made with Rubik’s cube pieces.
Enjoy these highlights from the show. Picture credits go to friends of BDAB in Paris. You know who you are!
– Paris, France
“Love is Love”, a Collaborative Video Production
Very rad. A scene with 2 people embracing and kissing each other loops 3 times, but nearly every frame is done by a different artist. According to the description in the video, “120 artists, illustrators, and animators” from all over the world collaborated on the video. A full list of the contributing artists can be found at heckler.tv/loveislove.
In this current climate of “Us vs Them”, it’s refreshing to this message of inclusivity and equality being put out there to counterbalance it.
via Juxtapoz
LA Art Book Fair (LAABF) is this Weekend 2/23-26 @ Geffen Contemporary MOCA
The 5th iteration of Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair is this weekend at the Geffen of MOCA. Thursday, February 23, is the preview night, which is open to museum members for free and $10 for the public. From Friday to Sunday is free to the general public.
I was there last year, and it’s amazing to see so many people in the art communities come together in the huge museum floor. There are all kinds of zines, books, rare prints, and merch available for you to browse and purchase. It’s a great event for collectors, so if you’re in the area, definitely go visit.
Tips to Get Top Dollar for Your Art Sales on eBay
*I wasn’t planning on this post becoming so long, but it’s a summary of the best tips I have learned over the years of being an eBay user. I hope at least some of you find it useful. The tl;dr version appears at the bottom of the post.
In most art collectors’ collecting career, there eventually comes a time to sell a piece from the collection. It might be to fund another work or maybe you decided the work no longer fits the direction of curation. Whatever the reason, eBay is a quick and easy way to reach a large base of buyers. If you’re selling a high ticket item, it’s the equivalent of selling a Ferrari at a swap meet, but it might be preferable to consigning to a gallery and dealing with their BS.
Here I explain the best practices of selling art on eBay, so that you get the most $$ for your efforts.
Let’s start with the title of a listing. This is probably the most important aspect of any listing because a smart title will decide whether a potential buyer will see your auction. Beside obvious things like name of the artist or title of the artwork, there may be other keywords that make it easier to find the listing or entice a buyer into clicking on the listing.
Here’s my tip to making the best descriptive title. Do a search of the artist’s name in eBay. Filter the result to show only sold listings, then sort by “Price + Shipping: highest first”, like so below.
Take note of the auctions that sold for the highest prices and what their titles are. There will be common keywords shared between these successful auctions and if the keywords apply to the work you are selling, then it should be in your auction title. There is a character limit for your title, so choose only the most effective keywords that make your auction stand out and easy to search.
Like they say, “A picture says a thousand words.” And an auction with low-lit, low-res, cluttered pictures says “I’m not worth it.”
The next important aspect of an auction is pictures. Like they say, “A picture says a thousand words.” And an auction with low-lit, low-res, cluttered pictures says “I’m not worth it.” If you have a nice DSLR camera already, then you have a huge leg up on everyone else. If not, it’ll still be okay as long as you take the time to edit the picture with a simplest photo editing software. The default ones that come with any Windows or Mac operating system is fine. Some tips for taking better pictures:
- Use high resolution camera. High-res cameras impart more “depth” to any artwork you’re photographing.
- Have a clean area on which you can take a picture. Nothing is more off-putting than having clutter of personal stuff in the background. What I usually do is to lay a large piece of black paper on the ground and photograph the artwork on top of this.
- Utilize natural light to show off your artwork in the best light. Especially if your artwork has a lot of vibrant colors, then natural light can bring it to life.
- You should have these 3 basic pictures at a minimum. A frontal photo that shows the whole piece. A photo that shows distinguishing marks, such as an artist’s signature. This type of photo eases buyer’s concerns about authenticity. And lastly, close-ups of visually appealing details in the artwork that a buyer might not have been aware.
- Post-editing can make the difference. Even with the best lighting and photo angles to showcase the piece, there’s always room for improvement. At a minimum, adjust contrast and brightness levels and crop the photos to your liking.
The more you can assure a buyer that this is the real deal, the more likely it is he will be willing to give you more money for it.
Next, the description. Write a short blurb about the artwork itself, especially if you are privy to any interesting stories behind it, the artist, or genre. Details of authenticity/provenance and condition are essential, but be honest. The more you can assure a buyer that this is the real deal, the more likely it is he will be willing to give you more money for it.
Now this is the fun part. How should you sell it? eBay offers a few options. It can be an auction or a Buy It Now. What you choose depends on your appetite for risk and reward.
- Auctions: You choose a starting price and a number of days the auction should run, and if people are interested they will bid up the price. If you start at a high price, then it’s likely to deter a lot of bidders. My recommendation is to start low to attract a flurry of activity, which will encourage new bidders and current bidders to bid higher. However, risk is high if you overestimate the market interest in the artist or the particular artwork, but as long as you find at least 1 buyer, the item is guaranteed sell. I usually start auctions at $0.99 for 7days with no reserve, even for items with an estimated value in the thousands of dollar, because I have found this yields auction prices that are significantly greater than the historical average prices for the artist or artwork. It’s a high risk and high reward method.
Pro tip: I found that listings that end on Sunday do better than any other day. Make of that what you will.
- Buy It Now (BIN): This is for sellers who are risk averse, but it is straightforward. You set a price and a potential buyer decides whether to purchase it. You know exactly what price you’ll get if you find a buyer, but the disadvantage is you don’t know if it’ll ever sell. To increase the odds of selling, you can enable an option called Best Offer. This feature lets interested parties send you an offer, which you can counter, decline, or accept. If you’re ok with waiting for a sale at a certain price that you want to achieve, then BIN is for you.
I’m a fan of low starting price auctions because it consistently brings in the most $. Let me give you an example. I bought a Shepard Fairey print from 1996 in 2015 via a BIN listing for $1500. A year later, I sold the same piece via $0.99 starting price 7day auction that ended on a Sunday afternoon to achieve $2900, which was way more than I was expecting. I was expecting to break even since the artist’s profile hadn’t risen much in that time and the print market was soft.
If you have some time, you can market your auctions via art forums and this can provide the extra bump
There are other tips to attract more buyers like offering insurance for shipping or free shipping. If you have some time, you can market your auctions via art forums and this can provide the extra bump, but I think the main tips above will cover 95% of things you need to do to get the best price.
In the end, what does eBay take? For listings in the Art category, eBay will take 10% of the end price, which includes any shipping charges that the buyer pays. Then you kind of have to use PayPal to accept payment, so PayPal takes 2.9% on top of the 10% that eBay already took. For me, it’s worth it being that I’m in control of the entire selling process, unlike art auction sites like Paddle8.
You want the short story? Here it is:
- Choose a smart and effective title for your listing.
- Take good pictures that are well-lit and high resolution using a background that looks clean.
- Write a short, honest blurb that showcases the best parts of the artwork and assure potential buyers of the authenticity/provenance.
- Choose a pricing option that makes sense for you. It can be an auction or a Buy It Now. My recommendation is a low starting price auction with no reserve that runs for 7days starting on a Sunday afternoon/evening.
- If you art part of any art forums or communities, market your eBay listing by leaving a link in your signature or posting the link in a sales thread. More visibility, the better.
- Be honest and professional.
Good luck on your next sales!
Chilled Vibes for Sunday Morning
Public Service Announcement: Cheeseburger
This is totally random for this blog, but it’s my blog and I’m feeling like eating a cheeseburger right now, so I’m going to post this video. Think of it as… art for your tastebuds.