Monkdogz Artblog

You’ve all probably heard the story that’s been flying for the last month or so about the incestuous exhibition being planned by the New Museum of Contemporary Art in Manhattan of collector Dakis Joannou’s (who also happens to be one of the museum’s trustees) private art collection to be curated by his good friend Jeff Koons, who’s work is also collected by the said collector. There’s a lot more to this incestuous inner circle which if you’re interested in you can read in the various links I’ve attached to the bottom of this post.

I wasn’t particularly interested in this turn of events as it was just more of the same usual “stuff” that goes on in the art world. What surprised me was the degree of moral outrage that it’s spawned.

The art world is probably one of the last unregulated industries left. Consequently, although there are many good individuals and businesses within the industry operate with integrity there is also a fair share of those who don’t. In truth, does regulation help that much anyway? Just look at the worlds of finance and pharmaceuticals; although proponents of regulation I am sure would point out how much worse it would be without any regulations.

Having said all that the art world has it’s share of forgers, chandelier bidding, insider trading, cronyism, nepotism, price fixing, cartels, money laundering. You name a nefarious activity and the art world probably has it and maybe more than in other industries. If you hark back to the early days of this blog, Bob wrote about the Intelligence Squared US debate on the proposition “The art market is less ethical than the stock market” which was held in February of this year in the very midst of the financial crash. Those for the motion won the day with 55% of the votes.

So everyone knows that it happens. So why suddenly is the New Museum being singled out for public outcry? Is someone harboring a grudge against Lisa Phillips the Director, Jeff Koons or Dakis Joannou?

Don’t get me wrong, I think it is a very healthy thing to air and discuss working practices in our industry and a little bit of self regulations is “a very good thing” as our once incarcerated Martha Stewart likes to say.  However I am much more interested in the motivation forthis sudden soul searching and self-scrutiny in the mirror.

Do you have any insider information? Who hates whom?…Who wants to do whom in?…..I’d buy you a cup of coffee and a donut for the down and dirty……meet me behind the dumpster on 27th street……….

Associated articles:

ArtInfo
New York Times
New York Times Art Beats
New York Magazine

Since the demise of MJ last week, Bob has kept asking where Bubbles was.  People magazine has helpfully found out that Bubbles, now 26 and a hefty 160lbs, is alive and happy in a primate sanctuary in Florida.  Chimpanzees, can live to be 60.  He should continue to live a good life and he has already been immortalized by Jeff Koons, so he should have no worries.

The sculpture that Jeff Koons created back in 1988 of Michael Jackson and Bubbles was as part of his “Banalities” series which really launch Koon’s career.  On the eve of his latest exhibition “Popeye Series” at the Serpentine Gallery in London, the Guardian newspaper has printed an interview of Jeff Koons by Jonathan Jones.  

I’ve always struggled a little with Koons, because he employs a team of 100 in his New York Studio to help create his work.  However if I’m objective and honest, it shouldn’t be an issue.  Throughout man’s history, from the artists in the early civilization of Sumer, the Italian Renaissance to modern and contemporary art, teams have created art.  Sol Lewitt’s work continue to come to life even though he passed away last year.  Levine Werner’s work are concepts that can be replicated by anybody and the artist encourages you to do so.  Digital photography has come about because many people’s efforts to make it accessible to everyone.  

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not a good enough reason to have reservations about his work.  I have to determine for myself whether I think his art work shows artistic merit.

He’s certainly had an impact of plenty of artists who’ve followed.  He’s already part of today’s culture, easily proved by the inclusion of his balloon dog in the movie “Night at the Museum – War of the Smithsonian”.  The Tate Modern has opened a room of his works which has been donated to the national collection by his former dealer Anthony d’Offay.   

In his interview, he talks about his young son with his wife Ilona Staller, and the ensuing custody battle after their divorce.  He explains his “Celebration” series as a way to communicate with his son in the future, to explain that he was thinking of him during his younger years while they battled for him.  It brings an interesting dimension to his work. 

Jonathan Jones respects Koons and is at the opposite spectrum in terms of views to Robert Hughes who completely dismissed him.  Who will be correct?  Will he be sought after in 20, 50, 100 years?

I think I need to see more of his work.

Following the media attention of Susan Boyle especially in Britain where they are very good at building up and then knocking down anybody who dares to pop their head up, mole style, into the glare of their journalistic headlights, it makes you wonder what role they play in the success of person. 

Despite the fact that Susan Boyle lost to “Diversity” the exciting dance group of 3 sets of brothers, she will no doubt be able to cash in on her fame, albeit in a dimmer spotlight, but it will probably not be a bad outcome, considering the pressure that she’s been under and perhaps succumbed to.

Andy Warhol in 1968 said “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”   It’s a now famous quote which may have backfired on him, with critics suggesting that he was just a famemonger and not a great artist.  Did fame contribute to his success?  Does his work command the millions of dollars because he was famous as a celebrity in his own right?  Would his work have stood the test of time without being attached to the media attention?  We will never know.

Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst are today’s celebrity artists. 

Jeff Koons went as far as hiring a media consultant and taking out adverts in international magazines, cultivating a successful persona.  His marriage to porn star Cicciolina (Ilona Staller) added to his notoriety added to his socializing with the rich and famous.  Legal cases surrounding their son after the divorce and copyright battles has meant that Koons remains in the news. 

Damien Hirst has courted fame and notoriety with his controversial art and public antics which have been well documented by the popular press. 

So does this celebrity status help or not?  Libby Purves a British journalist, radio broadcaster and author has been part of the UK celebrity culture for well over 3 decades.  Purves suggests that “moderate doses of applause and recognition are necessary to artists. They need both the sense of public communication, and the money.”  However she cautions the extreme; “overdoses of fame can be lethal: they often douse the creative spark and drive the artist into noisy self-parody and consequent self-hate.

It is worth noting that -all three artists above have had to use a “factory” of assistants, not unlike the renaissance studios in order to fulfill demand for their works. 

Interestingly and rather disparagingly Purves also says that “In a way, the new phenomenon of empty celebrity un-backed by original talent is less destructive: any amount of fame can’t do much harm to the oeuvre of Piers Morgan or Paris Hilton.

So what is success?  Is it financial wealth, is it critical acclaim, is it public applause, is it media attention, is it collector desire?  Perhaps only the passage of time will give us the real answer.  

So the latest trendy phrases are “good works are selling for fair market price” and “people are in observational mode”.  Both heard at the contemporary art auctions this week. 

Artinfo labeled Sotheby’s sales “solid but uninspiring”, with just over $47million in sales resulting in 81% of lots offered and 78% of the pre-sales dollar estimates.  48 lots were offered compared to 83 lots a year ago and $362million and the lowest result Sotheby’s achieved in a contemporary art sale since 2003.  

However an Alexander Calder sculpture sold for $3.5 million which was more than double its estimate.  

Bloomberg spotted Actor Owen Wilson billionaire Eli Broad and former Hollywood agent Michale Orvitz at the sale.  Larry Gagosian was also there and successfully bid for Jeff Koons’ “Baroque Egg with Bow (Turquoise/Magenta)” at $5,458,500.

Christie’s on the other hand did better and according to Artinfo “charged to a sizzling $93,734,500 tally, reassuringly nestled between pre-sale expectations of $71.5 million and $104.5 million” achieving a “sizzling” 91% of lots offered and 94% of pre-sales estimates.  54 lots were offered compared to 57 at last year’s May sales which brought in $348.2 million. This sale was the lowest contemporary result since November 2004 for Christies.

The highest bid went for the David Hockney portrait of Betty Freeman called “Beverly Hills Housewife,” which sold for an artist record $7.9 million. 

Bloomberg spotted Hedge-fund manager Steven Cohen and tennis great John McEnroe at the event.  Larry Gagosian was also there and bid successfully with a record price for Roy Lichtenstein’s “Frolic”

The New York Times suggested that Christies did better because of their strategy of conservative estimates and a wider variety of artists appealing to a wider range of collectors.  They suggest that the winning of Betty Freeman’s estate which included an excellent contemporary art collection was also key.

Phillips did the worst with Artinfo suggesting that it “limp(ed) to the finish line” with only 72% of lots offered, sold and 57% of pre-sale estimate value.

Anecdotal feedback from the Affordable Art Fair also suggested similar results with only half the number of sales compared to last year.  

N.B.  I’m sure everybody already knows that estimates do not reflect commissions, which are 25 percent of the hammer price up to $50,000, 20 percent of the price from $50,001 to $1 million, and 12 percent above $1 million for all three companies.  

Esther Barend very kindly sent over a link of Ben Lewis’ latest article about the dire straits of the contemporary art world in the London Times today.

Ben Lewis is a British art critic, journalist and documentary film producer. He has been predicting the “armageddon” of the art world since 2006; a little premature, but he is now feeling vindicated and is taking every opportunity to tell everyone “I told you so”. He has such a negative spin about the contemporary art world that he was banned from the Sotheby’s Damien Hirst auction, a distinction that he is inordinately proud of and which he wrote about in the Evening Standard.

He is currently making a documentary film about the contemporary art world which is expected to air later this year. The working title is “Brave New Art World” a very jaundiced view of the contemporary art boom, based on statistics such as published by the Contemporary 100 Index, which suggests that the top 25% of the 100 highest selling artists increased in value by 3010% since 1984 and that 2000 percentage points of that happened between 2005 -2008. Interestingly, he was turned down for interviews by many of the people and organizations that he approached,

His focus is mainly on artists such as Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Zhang Xiaogang, Richard Prince and Takashi Murakami and dealers such as Larry Gagosian and museum directors such as Sir Nicholas Serota of the Tate Gallery. His outlook is very pessimistic and he doesn’t offer an solutions, except for some banal suggestions, in a talk he gave late last year, of  “civil disobedience” such as “behaving like an artist – do really stupid things……and say that you are appropriating stupidity to critique it”.

I think he is right in that there will be changes to the art market, but I’m not ready to jump off the roof just yet.