Commissioned by the Public Art Fund, NY and created by Rob Pruitt, the nearly ten-foot-tall chrome finished sculpture of Andy Warhol was unveiled on Wednesday March 30 at Union Square, just outside the building that housed Warhol’s Factory for more than ten years in the 70s and early 80s.
Several photo illustrated articles have been published, and videos have been made about the statue. You can see them on the website exclusively dedicated to The Andy Monument.
After the recent financial crisis that also affected the art market, the major auction houses have assisted since the recovery to continuous records. A sign that high-end and insightful art collectors continue to have the means to acquire valuable artworks and believe that art will continue to be a good investment allied to an aesthetical value.
The recent evidence is Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale, which took place in New York on the 11th of May and realized $301,683,630 (£184,026,630/€211,178,100), with 95% sold by lot and 99% sold by value. In this sale, where only three of the 65 works on offer failed to sell, a total of seven new world auction records were established.
Cy Twombly, whose Untitled from 1967 realized $15,202,500; contemporary artist, Urs Fischer, whose Untitled (Lamp/Bear), realized $6,802,500 – six times the artist’s previous world auction record; Richard Diebenkorn, for Ocean Park #121, from 1980 which brought in $7,698,500; Anselm Kiefer, whose Dem Unbekannten Maler (To the Unknown Painter) from 1983 realized $3,554,500. The sale of Cindy Sherman’s Untitled color coupler print from her 1981 Centerfold series was not only a world auction record for Sherman, but represents a new world auction record for any photograph, thus setting two world auction records for the same work.
But the highlight of this evening sale was Andy Warhol's Self-Portrait, an acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, in four parts overall: 40 x 32 in. (101.6 x 81.3 cm.) that the Pop artist completed between 1963 and 1964 and was bought for $38,442,500 (buyer's premium included), establishing a new world record for a portrait by the artist. Acclaimed in every Warhol monograph and exhibition catalogue as his first seminal self-portrait, it was part of the Barron Family collection and was sold be Florence Barron who had commissioned the work for $1,600 nearly half a century ago, making payments on an installment plan.
All eight works by Warhol offered at auction were sold for a combined total of $90,988,000, including another self-portrait, a synthetic polymer and silkscreen ink on canvas 106¾ x 106½ in. (271.2 x 270.5 cm.) painted in 1986, previously belonging to Anthony d'Offay, London.
Another relevant result for Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale (sale 2440 of May 11, 2011) was Mark Rothko's Abstract Expressionist masterpiece from 1961, Untitled #17, having achieved $33,682,500.
Buyers (by lot / by origin) were 61% American, 23% European, 3% Asian and 13% other.
Commissioned by Public Art Fund, NY, a nearly ten-foot-tall chrome finished sculpture of Andy Warhol created by Rob Pruitt, will be unveiled tomorow in the Union Square, Pedestrian Mall at 17th Street and Broadway, just outside the building that housed Warhol’s Factory for more than ten years in the 70s and early 80s, tomorow Wednesday March 30 at 11:00am.
Inspired by Warhol’s art and life and a tribute to the late artist, The Andy Monument will stand on the street corner, just as Warhol did when he signed and gave away copies of Interview magazine which he founded in 1969.
Based on a combination of digital scanning of a live model and hand sculpting, Rob's creation aims to represent Warhol as a ghostly, silver presence: a potent cultural force as both artist and self-created myth. The chrome figure wears his signature fright wig and carries a Polaroid camera around his neck. In his right hand he carries a medium brown bag, which Rob imagines to be filled with copies of Interview magazine.
In the likeness of what is becoming common these days, interaction through the use of technological devices and social media will be made possible.
The sculpture created by Rob Pruitt will stand in the Union Square, NY, until October 2, 2011.
above: Kim Kardashian made of Red Vines & Black Licorice twists
Los Angeles born, and now San Francisco-based, mosaic artist Jason Mecier creates portraits of famous personalities with assemblages crafted of candy, food, yarn, dried beans and just plain junk.
In his licorice mosaics, He artfully twists red and black licorice to create uncanny likenesses of some of today's most popular entertainers and images from popular culture.
above: detail of Kim Kardashian made of Red Vines and Black Licorice
In his "junk" portraits, the objects he uses to craft the images include things relevant to the celebrity or personality of his subject, such as the Campbell's soup cans and banana used to compose a portrait of artist Andy Warhol:
Red vines and black licorice:
Mo' Nique: Michael C. Hall as Dexter: Elizabeth Berkely in Showgirls: Taylor Lautner: Robert Englund as Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street:
Other Candy Taylor Swift made with Good n' Plenty Candies: Pam Anderson made of various hard candy and candy bars: details: Christina Aguilera made of candy: The Olsen Twins made of candy: The Spice Girls made of candy:
Some of his impressive "junk" portraits.
Mary Louise Parker (star of HBO's Weeds): Conan O'Brien: Tina Fey: Chelsea Handler: Donald Trump and detail: Frida Kahlo and detail: Singer Pink: Kathy Najimy: RuPaul: President Obama:
Framegeek.com, a blog about Men's eyewear, sunglasses and glasses, has just issued a series of posters celebrating 'Eyewear Made Famous' by Moxy Creative.
The collection consists of six different aesthetically pleasing graphic art posters. Five of the posters each feature one iconic outline of recognizable eyewear frames on the subdued colored silhouettes of Andy Warhol, Johnny Depp, Mahatma Ghandi, Kanye West, and Yves Saint Laurent respectively. The sixth poster is a compilation of iconic white frames with call-outs beneath each of the face to whom the glasses belong.
The Warhol's: The Depp's: The Ghandi's: The Ye's: The YSL's: The Frameworks poster:
01. Woody Allen 02. Kanye West 03. Buddy Holly 04. Michael Caine 05. Kurt Cobain 06. John Lennon 07. Geordi LaForge 08. Malcolm X 09. Johnny Depp 10. Dame Edna 11.Stephen Colbert 12. The Blues Brothers 13. Austin Powers 14. Yves Saint Laurent 15. Elton John 16. George Costanza 17. Bootsy Collins 18. Elvis Costello 19. Terry Richardson 20. David Hockney 21. DMC of Run DMC 22. Andy Warhol 23. Mohandas Ghandi 24. Steve Urkel 25. Napoleon Dynamite 26. Clark Kent 27. Shock G of Digital Underground 28. Truman Capote
Each of the six 11.75" x 15.5" prints costs $30 and is limited to a run of 50. Buy them here.
