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'Africa is the new China when it comes to art'

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A piece by late Nigerian sculptor Ben Enwonwu is displayed during an exhibition of African art by Bonhams in Lagos on April 22, 2015

Lagos (AFP) - Giles Peppiatt, from Bonhams in London, had good reason to make the trip to Nigeria's financial capital, Lagos, for the auction house's next sale of African art -- a glut of potential buyers.

On a recent visit, he described Africa as "one of our hottest properties on the art block".

"In some ways, Africa is the new China when it comes to art," he added. "We are investing time, money and people to maintain our presence in this market."

Bonhams has blazed a trail in the sector, having organized its first "Africa Now" sale of modern and contemporary African art in 2007, which has since become an annual event.

Among its most expensive sales was "Arab Priest" (1945) by South African painter Irma Stern, which was bought by the Qatar Museums Authority for just over three million pounds (4.2 million euros, $4.7 million) in 2011.

"New World Map" (2009) -- one of Ghanaian artist El Anatsui's tapestries embroidered from crushed aluminium bottle tops and copper wire -- went for nearly 550,000 pounds the following year.

A series of seven wooden sculptures by Nigeria's Ben Enwonwu fetched 361.250 pounds -- triple the estimate price.

Increasing interest

Leading African artists were virtually absent from art sales just a decade ago but now contemporary works feature strongly in sales at several international auction houses.

Another El Anatsui tapestry sold for $1.4 million at Sotheby's.

 sculptures by Ben Enwonwu

"When institutions such as the Tate (in London) and the Smithsonian (in Washington DC) start to acquire contemporary African art, one then knows something wonderful has occurred," said Peppiatt.

On the back of successful sales in recent years, Bonhams is specializing even more this year, with a selection of modern art going under the hammer this month and contemporary art in October.

In Africa, the Zinsou foundation's museum of contemporary African art in Ouidah, Benin, and and the forthcoming opening of the huge Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art in Cape Town, South Africa, are  clear signs of the increasing interest of collectors.

Most of the buyers at Bonhams' "Africa Now" sales are African, explained Peppiatt.

"A lot of collectors are very wealthy Nigerian businessmen," he added.

Culture and heritage

"Nigerian art collectors want a piece of their own culture and heritage and are prepared to invest in that," added Bonhams' representative in Lagos, Neil Coventry.

lagos nigeria traffic jam"What's fascinating is that these pieces are being found all over the world. In some cases they are coming back to Nigeria where they are valued and appreciated the most."

Coventry, whose living room walls at his house overlooking the Lagos lagoon are covered with major Nigerian works of art, cites the example of Enwonwu.

The painter and sculptor, who died in 1994, was once as famous a name in Nigeria as Britain, where he was notably the first black African artist commissioned to make a sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II in 1957.

But his name was forgotten and only rediscovered in recent years.

"He was an international artist and Africa's premier modern artist," said Coventry. 

"Collectors who bought pieces by Enwonwu early in his career are now getting older and those who have inherited works may have no idea of the value of what they have.

"This rediscovery of Ben Enwonwu's works is amazing."

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Ten years ago, Enwonwu's works sold for several hundred dollars but are now fetching hundreds of thousands at auction.

Nevertheless, said Coventry, his work "is still massively under-valued, which is quite unique for an artist who was so accomplished during his own lifetime".

Femi Lijadu is one of several art collectors who will make the trip from Lagos to London for the auction on May 20 and has already pinpointed Nigerian works "at affordable prices".

He will be in the British capital because he is proud of the image the major artists portray of his country.

Lijadu, a corporate lawyer, has some 500 pieces in his collection and remembers the time he began earning a living in the 1980s and buying pictures by the "Grand Masters" of Nigeria.

"At the time we dreamt of the day where the world would finally start to take notice of Nigerian and African art in general," he remembered with a smile.

Judging by the scale of the auction, that day has arrived.

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The most expensive, over-the-top pieces of art owned by tech billionaires

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rothkoLast week, a Picasso painting called "The Women of Algiers (Version 0)"fetched $179.4 million minutes before a bronze statue by Alberto Giacometti called "Man Pointing" sold for $141.3 million.  

The buyers were anonymous, though a recent New York Times article narrowed the potential Picasso buyers down to 50 suspects — some of whom made their fortunes in tech. 

Tech titans have a taste for expensive art. We've rounded up some of the biggest purchases here.

Bill Gates set what was then an American art record when he bought Winslow Homer's "Lost on the Grand Banks" for $36 million in 1998. The painting hangs on a wall outside his home library.

 Source: Bloomberg



Inside his library is Childe Hassam's "Room of Flowers," a piece that's believed to be worth $20 million.

Source: Bloomberg



He also owns a painting by George Bellows called "Polo Crowd." Gates bought the piece anonymously at a Sotheby's auction in 1999, paying a whopping $27.5 million to add it to his collection.

Source: Bloomberg

 



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Here's how much it costs to package, ship, and insure a multi-million dollar piece of art

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So you have some extra millions and you've decided to invest in a piece of fine art. Excellent choice. 

But before you go raising your bidding paddle, you'll need an insurance program.

Take, for instance, Pablo Picasso's "Les femmes d'Alger (Version 'O')," which was recently auctioned for a record-breaking $179.4 million. Simply packing, shipping, and installing security for a painting of that value could cost up to $60,000, according to Kimeral Anthony, an account executive at ABD Insurance & Financial Services, Inc. 

But wait, there's more: For a painting such as "Les femmes," Anthony tells us the annual premium could easily exceed $100,000.

Whether the art you're eyeing is $1 million or tens of millions, here's Anthony's advice on the insurance arrangements you need to make before you buy.  

1. Meet with an insurance advisor as soon as possible.

Anthony strongly recommends looking into insurance options early. "You can't just add on a priceless painting [to your insurance] ... there are so many steps involved," he says. With a multi-million dollar piece of fine art, you need an insurance carrier willing to take on risk. Anthony suggests going to insurers that specialize in art and other valuables, such as AXA ART and XL Caitlin. The insurance advisor can also recommend appraisal and valuation services. 

Pablo Picasso

2. Obtain the necessary documentation for the art.

It's important to find out what documentation the insurance carrier requires. This can include any of the following: the artist's name, the significance of the artwork, the artwork's provenance (this includes previous ownership and exhibition history), and the value of the piece. The auction house from which the piece will be purchased should have all of these documents.  

3. Find out what type of packaging the art will require. 

There is much to consider when packaging a piece of art, including its size, its composition, and whether it requires a temperature controlled environment. "Art should always be professionally packaged by those who specialize in art shipping," says Anthony. For a painting like "Les femmes," Anthony explains that packaging would occur on site after a full evaluation. Security would be present throughout the process. 

4. Arrange for 24/7 shipping and handling security.  

High value works should be monitored throughout transit until they reach their final destination. When creating an insurance plan, it's essential to only hire professional art handlers in order to prevent damage.

Art handler

5. Prepare and install security at the site where the art will be displayed. 

Congratulations, your newly acquired piece of art has been safely delivered. Now, the piece gets professionally installed and alarms are set up. The insurance underwriter will receive confirmation once the piece is safely delivered. Anthony says that some insurance carriers also require video surveillance both inside and outside as a portion of the agreed security program (remember: this piece of art is high risk!).

SEE ALSO: Why Picassos are going to keep selling for record-breaking prices

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One of the most important museums in the world just appointed a director who's never even worked at one — and it's shaking up the art world in the best way possible

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anne pasternak and marisa tomei

The Brooklyn Museum just announced that it is appointing as its new director Anne Pasternak, who has never actually worked in a museum.

While perhaps lesser-known outside New York City than the Metropolitan Museum or MoMA, the Brooklyn Museum is no small potato. Housed in an imposing Beaux-Arts building at the edge of Prospect Park, it's the second-largest museum in New York, with well over a million works in its collection and more than 300 full-time staffers. 

Someone new to museums might seem like a strange pick for director of one of the country's oldest and most important ones.

Leading a museum involves not only developing a board, courting donors, and building staff — things Pasternak has years of experience with, if on a smaller scale — but also managing a massive facility, a vast collection, a large team of curators, and a budget most nonprofits can only dream of. That's why the top candidates for these roles, which at the country's flagship institutions come up only rarely, are usually hand-picked from among those already high-up in the museum world.

Yet Pasternak's appointment, which will make her the first woman to lead either of the city's largest two museums, represents a significant shift in the art world and — as one longtime arts leaderargued— it's an "inspired choice" by the Brooklyn Museum.

Full disclosure here: As someone who worked closely with Pasternak for nearly two years at Creative Time, the organization she has led for two decades, I'm not an impartial observer. I'm basically a groupie: one of the many fans she's picked up along the way. I can testify firsthand though that she consistently inspires the people around her, pushing artists to dream big and rallying employees and supporters to great loyalty and devotion.

That's the key behind Pasternak's rise to the helm of such an iconic institution: not where exactly she's worked, but what she's shown she is capable of imagining and — often against challenging odds — executing to great acclaim. 

"You can’t have expertise in every area in an encyclopedic museum," Tom Finkelpearl, commissioner of cultural affairs for New York City, told The New York Times. "Mainly you have to be a good evaluator and a good attractor of talent, and Anne is both those things."

anne pasternak with david byrne

Pasternak ran a small gallery in the late 1980s, spent a year as the curator for a space in Hartford, and co-founded a nonprofit called BRAT. In 1994, the Times notes, when Pasternak took the reigns at Creative Time, "she was its only full-time employee." She was also only about 30 years old.

The public art nonprofit, now famous for launching ambitious projects like Tribute in Light and Kara Walker's much-ballyhooed installation at the Domino sugar factory, was a scrappy upstart when it was founded in the early 1970s. It always punched above its weight, but under Pasternak's leadership, it became a real powerhouse, growing from a one-woman operation on a shoestring budget to a team of 25 with an annual budget of $5 million

Along the way, Creative Time somehow held on to its alternative, counter-culture appeal, embracing bold and provocative ideas while drawing crowds of visitors to its events and exhibitions, which are almost always free to the public. A proven record of success with that kind of outreach — increasingly important to major institutions that are shedding the stuffy reputations of yesteryear — seems like it was one of the sticking points in the Brooklyn Museum's decision, which is shaking up the traditional power dynamics of the art world in the best way possible.

brooklyn museum

"Deeply passionate about engaging broad audiences that transcend geographic, racial, and socioeconomic divisions, Anne Pasternak has continually championed artists and works relevant to the contemporary age," a museum press release noted. "This fresh approach makes Pasternak uniquely qualified to lead the Brooklyn Museum."

Pasternak may have never worked at a museum — she has, it bears noting, curated museum shows — but that rare mix of visionary leadership, art world street cred, and inclusive spirit seems to be exactly what the Brooklyn Museum was after.

For Pasternak, who has helped realize the dreams of a long list of artists during her tenure at Creative Time, it's also a bit of a dream come true. "If there was one job I fantasized about," she told the Times, "it was being director of the Brooklyn Museum."

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An artist is making $100,000 a pop off other people's Instagram photos — and it could be totally legal

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richard prince gagosian gallery new portraits instagram copyright

The latest exhibition by New York artist Richard Prince is raising ethical questions in the art world. The reason? He's selling canvases that feature other people's Instagram photos.

"New Portraits," first exhibited at the Gagosian Gallery in New York last year, features portraits of subjects that were not shot by Prince himself. Rather, they are screenshots of images other people have uploaded to Instagram. Prince has added his own comment below those already there, and printed the entire work on large canvasses. 

The artworks are now selling in New York this weekend for around $100,000 (£64,000) each, Gothamist reports.

One subject of the photos, DoeDeere, confirmed on Instagram that Prince did not seek permission before re-purposing one of her images. She posted on Instagram: "yes, my portrait is currently displayed at the Frieze Gallery in NYC. Yes, it's just a screenshot (not a painting). No, I did not give my permission and yes, the controversial artist Richard Prince put it up anyway."

She said the canvass featuring her portrait sold for $90,000 (£57,500).

 on



This isn't the first time Prince has flirted with copyright laws. According to Petapixel, Prince is: "notorious in the art world for taking other people’s work, 'appropriating' them as his own with various changes, and then selling them for large amounts of dough."

So is Prince actually breaking the law? It's a gray area. If he were to make perfect replicas, it would be a clear infringement of the original artists' rights. However, fair use may apply if the work is "transformative."

According to Stanford University Library: "At issue is whether the material has been used to help create something new or merely copied verbatim into another work."

The minor changes Prince adds to each original Instagram photo help each work to meet the requiements of fair use. (To take a different example, when an author quotes another author in their book, they don't have to ask for permission because the excerpts are essentially source material). Similarly, parody is generally protected from claims of copyright infringement under US law. 

The scenario is a good example of the new legal issues that "remix culture" have created. The internet is awash with altered, reposted, and aggregated content taken from other sources, frequently without permission. It has produced a huge wave of creativity — but also raises thorny questions about attribution and ownership. Sometimes the transformative fair use is clear, while at other times the "remixing" seems little more than theft.

richard prince gagosian gallery instagram photos copyright

One of the photos already included in Prince's show, for example, originally came from artist Donald Graham, who subsequently sent a cease-and-desist letter. But Prince sourced it from a different Instagram account, @rastajay92, which had sourced it from another Instagram account, @indigoochild. And yet Prince was hit with the cease-and-desist while the two Instagram accounts weren't, despite being the the only one of the 3 appropriators to have made any changes to the photo.

We won't know for sure about the legality of Prince's "New Portraits" unless he's formally challenged in court. (And even a ruling could later be appealed.) DoeDeere said she's "not gonna go after him." But he has run into legal trouble before — and won.

In 2013, a US court ruled that his "Canal Zone" artworks, which were based on earlier photos from photographer Patrick Cariou, constituted fair use.

Here's an example of the alterations Prince had made, from Art in America magazine:

richard prince copyright

For now, Prince has both fans and enemies. 

When "New Portraits" first exhibited last September, Jerry Saltz gushed in Vulture that"it's what [Prince] does in the comments field that is truly brilliant, and which adds layers on top of the disconcerting images. Here he is delving as deep as he ever has into privacy, copyright, and appropriation, twisting images so that they actually seem to undergo some sort of sick psychic-artistic transubstantiation where they no longer belong to the original makers."

Art Net's Paddy Johnson took a different view with an article titled: "Richard Prince Sucks."

Join the conversation about this story »

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An artist is selling other people's Instagram photos for $100,000 each

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richard prince gagosian gallery new portraits instagram copyright

The latest exhibition by New York artist Richard Prince is raising ethical questions in the art world. The reason? He's selling canvases that feature other people's Instagram photos.

"New Portraits," first exhibited at the Gagosian Gallery in New York last year, features portraits of subjects that were not shot by Prince himself. Rather, they are screenshots of images other people have uploaded to Instagram. Prince has added his own comment below those already there, and printed the entire work on large canvasses. 

The artworks are now selling in New York this weekend for around $100,000 (£64,000) each, Gothamist reports.

One subject of the photos, DoeDeere, confirmed on Instagram that Prince did not seek permission before re-purposing one of her images. She posted on Instagram: "yes, my portrait is currently displayed at the Frieze Gallery in NYC. Yes, it's just a screenshot (not a painting). No, I did not give my permission and yes, the controversial artist Richard Prince put it up anyway."

She said the canvass featuring her portrait sold for $90,000 (£57,500).

 on



This isn't the first time Prince has flirted with copyright laws. According to Petapixel, Prince is: "notorious in the art world for taking other people’s work, 'appropriating' them as his own with various changes, and then selling them for large amounts of dough."

So is Prince actually breaking the law? It's a gray area. If he were to make perfect replicas, it would be a clear infringement of the original artists' rights. However, fair use may apply if the work is "transformative."

According to Stanford University Library: "At issue is whether the material has been used to help create something new or merely copied verbatim into another work."

The minor changes Prince adds to each original Instagram photo help each work to meet the requiements of fair use. (To take a different example, when an author quotes another author in their book, they don't have to ask for permission because the excerpts are essentially source material). Similarly, parody is generally protected from claims of copyright infringement under US law. 

The scenario is a good example of the new legal issues that "remix culture" have created. The internet is awash with altered, reposted, and aggregated content taken from other sources, frequently without permission. It has produced a huge wave of creativity — but also raises thorny questions about attribution and ownership. Sometimes the transformative fair use is clear, while at other times the "remixing" seems little more than theft.

richard prince gagosian gallery instagram photos copyright

One of the photos already included in Prince's show, for example, originally came from artist Donald Graham, who subsequently sent a cease-and-desist letter. But Prince sourced it from a different Instagram account, @rastajay92, which had sourced it from another Instagram account, @indigoochild. And yet Prince was hit with the cease-and-desist while the two Instagram accounts weren't, despite being the the only one of the 3 appropriators to have made any changes to the photo.

We won't know for sure about the legality of Prince's "New Portraits" unless he's formally challenged in court. (And even a ruling could later be appealed.) DoeDeere said she's "not gonna go after him." But he has run into legal trouble before — and won.

In 2013, a US court ruled that his "Canal Zone" artworks, which were based on earlier photos from photographer Patrick Cariou, constituted fair use.

Here's an example of the alterations Prince had made, from Art in America magazine:

richard prince copyright

For now, Prince has both fans and enemies. 

When "New Portraits" first exhibited last September, Jerry Saltz gushed in Vulture that"it's what [Prince] does in the comments field that is truly brilliant, and which adds layers on top of the disconcerting images. Here he is delving as deep as he ever has into privacy, copyright, and appropriation, twisting images so that they actually seem to undergo some sort of sick psychic-artistic transubstantiation where they no longer belong to the original makers."

Art Net's Paddy Johnson took a different view with an article titled: "Richard Prince Sucks."

Join the conversation about this story »

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Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, and Roy Lichtenstein all created amazing BMW 'art cars'

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bmw art cars 1900x1200 20 750x500

Lichtenstein. Warhol. Koons. Stella. Calder. Rauschenberg. Holzer. Elíasson.

Since a BMW 3.0 CSL painted by Alexander Calder lined up for the Le Mans 24-hour race exactly 40 years ago, the BMW Art Car Collection has fascinated both art and design enthusiasts as well as car and technology fans all around the world.

Ever since the invention of the motor car, artists have drawn inspiration from the thrill of speed, from the phenomenon of mobility and from racing cars as examples of modern sculpture.

Since 1975, BMW Art Cars have been a central feature of this story.

The idea behind the BMW Art Cars was the brainchild of French racing driver and art enthusiast Hervé Poulain: 40 years ago, Poulain asked artist friend Alexander Calder to apply his creative talents to his race car.

Together with Jochen Neerpasch, then BMW Motorsport Director, the first BMW Art Car was born – and it became an instant crowd’s favorite on the race track.

Since then, new additions to the BMW Art Car Collection have been made over the years at irregular intervals, with unique works of art from artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney and Jeff Koons.

bmw art cars 1900x1200 18 750x490“The BMW Art Cars provide an exciting landmark at the interface where cars, technology, design, art and motor sport meet,” reflects Maximilian Schöberl, Senior Vice President, Corporate and Governmental Affairs, BMW Group. “The 40-year history of our ‘rolling sculptures’ is as unique as the artists who created them. The BMW Art Cars are an essential element and core characteristic of our global cultural engagement.”

bmw art cars 1900x1200 19 750x501The anniversary celebrations got under way with exhibitions in Hong Kong, at the Centre Pompidou, the BMW Museum and the Concorso d’Eleganza at Lake Como, where the first four BMW Art Cars by Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, plus the M3 GT2 created by Jeff Koons, were all on display. Further presentations are set to follow later in 2015 in New York, Miami and Shanghai.

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Bill Gross dreamt he got advice from a dead artist in a 'séance-like half dream'

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Bill Gross

Bill Gross, of Janus Capital, is not a huge fan of contemporary art.

As he says in his latest investment letter, he "settled for framing some All American Rockwells neatly clipped from old Saturday Evening Post covers."

But that doesn't stop him from weighing in on — and poking fun at — certain art historical giants as a way of segueing into his discussion of German bunds

He is particularly critical of the nouveau realist French painter Yves Klein, known best for his monochromes and the invention of a particular hue, International Klein Blue.

Gross claims to have spoken to the spirit of Klein (who died in 1962) in a  "séance-like half dream" and gotten some advice. 

Here's Gross discussing what he saw: 

My own artistic skills are severely limited – I even suspect I am missing the entire right half of my brain which drives fine motor skills and the ability to draw. Because of the auction catalogues we get in the mail though, I have determined that I am not unique in this regard – even famous artists it seems are lacking the right side of their brains. One of those is Yves Klein to which (1928-1962) follows his title on two spectacular pieces listed in a Christie’s twentieth century art sales catalogue. The “1962” points out I guess that he’s dead which is too bad, because it makes it harder to compare “right brain” notes with him. Still, the similarity is obvious because this guy painted like I draw self-portraits, and he got paid for it too. I present to you the first of his two images for your perusal and careful discrimination:

blueBOX_01

This “tour de farce” was titled “IKB” and consisted of “pigment and synthetic resin laid down on panel”, as Christie’s described it. All blue. It was 8x7 inches, which is important in the art world but which in this case might otherwise be described as a tad “puny”. Nevertheless, it sold for $35,000 because I assume Mr. Klein’s blues were the bluest of all possible blues – creativity and right side brain nevertheless lacking.

As further proof of his brain’s black hole, I present for you another of Mr. Klein’s creations; the better known (17x14) piece entitled “IKB 121”, priced at $150,000 no less:

blueBOX_02

Well, if that’s not the clincher. This guy was truly a painter extraordinaire. Mr. Klein as it turns out, called himself “Yves le monochrome”, and I can surely see why. When you’ve got a niche, exploit it, Yves must have figured. I can’t speak French very well, but I recently tried to reach my kindred half brain spirit in a séance-like half dream. I addressed him as Mr. Blue out of respect. “Mr. Bleu, Mon Ami”, I said “where, oh where in the art world is my niche?” The following was his suggestion that I now lay before you for critical acclaim:

redBOX_01

What I should have expected, I suppose. But as his ghostly voice faded out of my brain’s right side, I heard him say – “I got a monopoly on the blue, kid. Why don’t you try red.” Half brain. Some kindred spirit he was.

Art historians may disagree.

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10 insanely cool art events you have to go to this summer

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Local art scenes in cities like London and New York have the reputation for going dark in the summer, as the moneyed elite take off for the beach, the countryside, and far-flung destinations like Ibiza and the French Riviera.

But in recent years some of those vacation spots have developed thriving summer art scenes of their own.

As you're creating your summer itinerary of global art happenings (or simply dreaming about it), here are our top picks for the destinations you don't want to miss.

1. "New Works by Takashi Murakami," Ibiza

Blum & Poe is going on the road to present a show of new works by Takashi Murakami.

The exhibition, which will include paintings, sculptures, and film screenings, will take place in four unique spaces on the luscious Spanish island of Ibiza: Art Projects Ibiza, a 3,000 square foot exhibition space, Lune Rouge Ibiza, home of the personal art collection of Cirque du Soleil CEO Guy Laliberte (pictured above), the Ibiza Gran Hotel, the island's only five-star hotel, and HEART Ibiza, a new restaurant and performance space.

"New Works by Takashi Murakami" will be on display in four Ibiza locations from June 24–September 26, 2015.

artbasel_basel

2. Art Basel, Basel

Despite the smaller space (relative to other fairs these days), the original iteration of the international super-fair is in many ways still more interesting than its Miami and Hong Kong descendants.

From the roster of blue-chip galleries to invite-only events like ArtBinder's annual dinner in the Black Forest, it's an art world haven that hasn't yet been totally tainted by an influx of celebrities and corporate branding the way its sister fair in Miami has.

Art Basel will take place in Basel, Switzerland from June 18–21, 2015. 

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3. The Watermill Center's 22nd Annual Summer Benefit and Auction, Watermill, New York

The Watermill Center's annual gala is one of the most spectacular evenings on the New York social calendar, featuring over-the-top installations, performances, and decor, as well as a seated dinner in the middle of the center's lush, eight-acre site near Southampton.

This year's theme is "Circus of Stillness…the power over wild beasts." We don't know what it means, but it's sure to be both fabulous and fabulously well-attended.

The 22nd Annual Watermill Summer Benefit & Auction will take place at the Watermill Center, New York on July 25, 2015 from 6 p.m.–midnight. Tickets start at $500.

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4. Rirkrit Tiravanija's "Tomorrow is the Question?" Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow

The Garage Museum's new Rem Koolhaas-designed location will be christened by Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija's "Tomorrow is the Question?" 

The show, Tiravanija's first solo outing in Russia, will feature a variety of participatory activities meant to dissolve the boundaries between art and the audience. And, given Garage founder Dasha Zhukova's penchant for parties, we're assuming there will also be a pretty wild opening night shindig.

Rirkrit Tiravanija, "Tomorrow is the Question?" will be on display at the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, Russia from June 12–August 23, 2015.

5. "Paul Chan: Hippias Minor," DESTE Foundation Projectspace Slaughterhouse, Hydra

Established by collector Dakis Joannou, on the chic Greek island of Hydra, the DESTE Foundation Projectspace Slaughterhouse hosts a site-specific installation by a contemporary artist each summer. This year, the space will showcase a two-part exhibition by 2014 Hugo Boss prize winner Paul Chan.

The first part is comprised of three large, outdoor works inspired by Plato's Hippias Minor ("on lying")—one of Plato's earlier works which shows Socrates in dialogue with a sophist over whether it's better to do wrong willingly or ignorantly—while the second part is the publication of Hippias Minor or The Art of Cunning, a new translation of the dialogue by translator Sarah Ruden.

The book is co-published by the DESTE Foundation and Chan's acclaimed press, Badlands Unlimited. Joannou also holds an annual yacht party on the island, attended by a slew of celebrities, collectors, and power-dealers.

Needless to say, the big-name bash is invite only.

"Paul Chan: Hippias Minor" will be on display at the DESTE Foundation Projectspace Slaughterhouse in Hydra, Greece from June 14–August 30, 2015. 

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6. Silencio x Maison de l'Aiguebrun, Bonnieux

David Lynch's storied members-only club Silencio is opening a summer pop-up location at the 19th century mansion Maison de l'Aiguebrun, in the town of Bonneiux in the Luberon region in the South of France.

The property once belonged to film director Agnes Varda and is now owned by her daughter, Rosalie Varda-Demy. The quarters, which are available for rent by club members, include 15 guest rooms, a restaurant, and a roster of concerts, DJ sets, and outdoor film screenings.

In July, Varda herself will team up with JR to produce a film installation on the property.

Silencio x Maison de l'Aiguebrun takes place at Maison de l'Aiguebrun in Bonnieux, France from May 14–September 20, 2015. Members only.

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7. Art-O-Rama, Marseille

If you somehow manage to score a stay at Maison de l'Aiguebrun, you might as well pop over to Art-O-Rama, Marseille's contemporary art fair.

Started in 2007, Art-O-Rama is the only art fair in the South of France, and it encourages exhibitors to think of their booths like curated exhibitions. Participating galleries are selected based on an idea for a site-specific project housed inside an artist-designed display module rather than a traditional booth.

With a small roster of galleries from Paris, Seoul, Brussels, and elsewhere, the intimate fair is sure to be a departure from the traditional sprawl.

Art-O-Rama takes place at La Cartonnerie in Marseille, France from August 28–30, 2015. 

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8. Fiorucci Art Trust's Volcano Extravaganza 2015, Stromboli

Nicoletta Fiorucci's Fiorucci Art Trust is throwing a ten-day festival celebration that will begin with the New Moon and end during the peak of the Delta Aquarids meteor shower.

The extravaganza is curated by director Milovan Farronato, and will feature artworks and performances by Kembra Pfahler, Kenneth Anger, Brian Butler, Raphael Hefti, and others. The Vinyl Factory will present a music program, including a "Cosmic Disco dance party under the stars" with DJ Daniele Baldelli.

Photographer Giovanni Silva will document the festival, with further film and literature collaborations to be announced.

Volcano Extravaganza 2015 takes place in Stromboli, Italy from July 17–27, 2015.

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9. Damián Ortega's "Casino" at HangarBicocca, Milan

Damián Ortega's first Italian solo show will boast an assortment of sculptures, installations, performances, and films, including his acclaimed Beetle Trilogy, which features a dismantled Volkswagen Beetle hanging from the rafters. 

The artist is known for his use of quotidian and recycled materials, and for "deconstructed" readymades.

The exhibition's opening night will include a performance of Moby Dick, a tug-of-war between man and machine in which Ortega attempts to control the movements of a car through a series of ropes and pulleys.

Damián Ortega's "Casino" will be on display at HangarBicocca in Milan, Italy from June 5–September 8, 2015, with an opening celebration on June 4 at 7 p.m.

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10. Phil Collins's Cinema Sayara at the Riwaq Biennale, Ramallah

Phil Collins (the artist, not the singer) is bringing his 2010 project "Auto Kino"—featuring classic films, cars, and an unapologetic nostalgia for the 1950s—to the fifth annual Riwaq Biennale, which takes place in Ramallah.

Collins got help curating the film program from filmmakers, members of the Ramallah Islamic Club, and Hugo Boss Prize winner Emily Jacir.

Cinema Sayara will be on display at the Riwaq Biennale in Ramallah, West Bank from May 19–June 16, 2015. 

SEE ALSO: 10 travel destinations trending this summer

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The guy who made the iconic 'hope' poster doesn't think Obama lived up to the hype

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Shepard FaireyThe artist who designed the iconic Obama poster is disappointed in the president's performance.

When asked in an interview with Esquire about whether the president had lived up to the expectations reflected in a famous 2008 portrait, outspoken designer Shepard Fairey replied "not even close."

"There have been a lot of things that he's compromised on that I never would have expected," Fairey told Esquire. "I mean, drones and domestic spying are the last things I would have thought [he'd support]."

Fairey cut Obama some slack, explaining that many of the president's larger unaccomplished promises were more the result of factors outside of his control.

"I've met Obama a few times, and I think Obama's a quality human being. But I think that he finds himself in a position where your actions are largely dictated by things out of your control," Fairey said. "I'm not giving him a pass for not being more courageous, but I do think the entire system needs an overhaul and taking money out of politics would be a really good first step."

Shepard Fairey

Previously known for his skate shop-friendly graphic T-shirt empire ObeyFairey's "Hope" poster launched him into the mainstream. Although he donated most of the proceeds from the poster and subsequent graphic T-shirt, Fairey reaped the benefits of his design fame, scoring a commission for a Time magazine cover, and landing his work in the Smithsonian.

In 2009, Fairey sued the Associated Press after it accused him of violating copyright law by using an AP photo for his iconic image. Fairey ended up paying $1.6 million to AP in the suit and serving probation after a judge ruled that he attempted to hide evidence.

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15 incredible new photos of Liu Bolin, China's 'Human Chameleon'

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Chinese artist Lui Bolin has an amazing talent. He can blend into any surroundings he chooses, making himself practically undetectable to the human eye. No, he doesn't have magic powers or an invisibility cloak. What he does have is great artistic ability and extreme patience.

Bolin, known to many as the "Human Chameleon," decorates his body and clothes with color, painting himself into his surroundings, making him almost imperceptible at first glance. The process can take 10 hours at a time.

His work has been exhibited all over the world and can be seen in his book "Liu Bolin: The Invisible Man." Bolin has shared these new works with us, courtesy of Liu Bolin Art Studio and Klein Sun Gallery.

We'll start with a relatively easy one. Here's Bolin blending in at the 7 July Memorial in London's Hyde Park.



But they get harder. Here he is in front of the Hollywood sign in California.



In Colombia, Bolin poses in front of some graffiti.



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Two of the women whose Instagram photos were hijacked by Richard Prince admit they didn't even shoot the originals

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richard prince gagosian gallery instagram photos copyright

Two of the women featured in Richard Prince's "New Portraits" collection of photos stolen from Instagram didn't shoot their photos in the first place.

In speaking with photo subjects Karley Sciortino and Anna Collins, Business Insider learned not only that their photos weren't their own original works, but also that the two have vastly different opinions about Prince's project.

"I don't really understand the uproar over it," Sciortino, a blogger and Vogue.com's resident sex columnist, told BI. "Richard Prince is a hugely successful artist who's made his career doing exactly what he's doing now. Personally I feel like it's an honor to be incorporated in a piece of his [Prince's] artwork."

Collins doesn't share Sciortino's sentiments. She feels she's entitled to at least a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the print depicting her.

"I just think about how I'm a working student in school, I'm extremely broke, and here is a middle-aged white man making a huge profit off of my image." she said. "Kind of makes me sick. I could use that money for my tuition."

Earlier this week, Prince made headlines when he sold the collection of prints for up to a reported $100,000 apiece. 

The photos Prince used feature celebrity subjects like Kate Moss and Sky Ferreira (the Moss photo had also already been stolen from elsewhere; she doesn't even have Instagram) as well as everyday users like Sciortino and Collins.   

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Sciortino's photograph shows her modeling a necklace by the designer Richardson. The image was originally posted to the @richardsonworld brand account. Sciortino had re-posted it from there — meaning the photo had already been appropriated once before Prince even got to it.

Collins, a 19-year-old ballet education student from Toronto, also told BI that she did not originally take the picture Prince re-purposed from her Instagram account, @annaballins.

 

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Instead, Collins' sister, photographer and designer Petra Collins, took the picture while Collins was lying atop her boyfriend in bed, she explained.

"I didn't have much intention behind it," Collins said. "Like many of my Instagram photos, it's of the moment."

Collins says that her sister gave her explicit permission to post the photo to Instagram, which means she would likely have "implied license" to use the photo for her own purposes. Still, this exchange only adds to the questions about art and ownership that are being raised by "New Portraits."

The dispute here is whether Prince altered the Instagram pictures enough to satisfy Fair Use laws, which allow an artist to appropriate other works if the artist in question has "transformed" the borrowed work into something new. 

Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, has issued a statement regarding these recent copyright issues. 

"People in the Instagram community own their photos, period," stated Instagram, as reported by The Washington Post. "On the platform, if someone feels that their copyright has been violated, they can report it to us and we will take appropriate action. Off the platform, content owners can enforce their legal rights.”

Of course, it's not necessarily true that Instagram users own their photos. Many, like Sciortino, repost and appropriate images from other sources. Some of the most popular accounts on Instagram, like @thefatjewish, barely post original content at all.

Perhaps that's why users like Sciortino have a different understanding of how this works than the company itself does.

"I think when we sign up for Instagram, it's a copyright-free zone, we don't really own these images," she said. "People are obsessed with this idea of ownership, but really people are only upset because they want money. People wouldn't really be upset if someone that was unknown was printing out their Instagram photos."

The reported $100,000 price tag has prompted one of the collection's Instagrammers, @SuicideGirls, to sell prints of Prince's pieces and donate the proceeds to a group that focuses on digital copyright issues. 

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Collins admires the effort and believes it's about "taking back the power." 

"I think @SuicideGirls actions are much more meaningful than threatening to sue," Collins said. "I've been asked, 'Why don't you just sue him?' But it's not that simple. I'm a 19-year-old girl and here is a rich, successful man. I'm almost powerless and @SuicideGirls just completely changed the game." 

Both Collins and Sciortino noted to BI that artistic appropriation is not a new phenomenon.

"I think this is so typical and a prime example of the art industry, but also the history of the art world in general. For years men (especially white men) have been appropriating and taking credit [for] women's work, bodies, and cultures," Collins told BI. 

Collins doesn't even consider Prince's exhibit to be art.

"The lines of art have been blurred so much that it's hard sometimes to discern what is 'art' and what is a commodity/something made only for profit," Collins said. "I think it just has to do with intention and context and I think in this situation — I wouldn't consider it art."

Sciortino, on the other hand, compares Prince's work to that of pop-artist Andy Warhol.

"He [Prince] is essentially curating these sort-of self portraits of people and recontextualizing them," she said. 

As Sciortino mentioned above, Prince is well known for his controversial methods. His collections often re-purpose other artwork, adding only minimal additions of his own. This style has made Prince the subject of much debate and even a major copyright lawsuit, which Prince won in 2013. 

The "New Portraits" collection repurposes photos from other Instagram users. True to Prince's form, the prints in the series look identical to the way the photos would appear within Instagram, save for the addition of a comment from Prince at the bottom.

"He is delving as deep as he ever has into privacy, copyright, and appropriation, twisting images so that they actually seem to undergo some sort of sick psychic-artistic transubstantiation where they no longer belong to the original makers," art critic Jerry Saltz explained to Vulture when New Portraits was first shown in the fall of 2o14. 

  

SEE ALSO: Authorship is dying, and artist Richard Prince is in trouble again

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'Instagram hijacker' Richard Prince has another new exhibit and it's just other people's paintings in frames

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richard prince originals

Richard Prince, the artist behind the controversial Instagram print collection that reportedly sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, is showing another exhibit in New York City right now.

Prince did not create any new materials for this collection, but acted more like a curator — not that he distinguishes between art and curation. Printed at the top of the exhibit's program is the Prince quote, "I don't see any difference between what I collect and what I make."

Currently on display at the Gagosian Gallery in on Madison Avenue, the cheekily named "Untitled (original)" features book covers from retro adult novels framed beside the original paintings that inspired them. The books are taken from Prince's massive collection, according to Gagosian.

Prince is known for appropriating the work of others.

"Mining images from mass media, advertising and entertainment, Prince has continuously redefined authorship and ownership as they relate to contemporary art,"explains the Gagosian Gallery website. 

SEE ALSO: Two of the women whose Instagram pics were hijacked by Richard Prince admit they didn't even shoot their photos

The Gagosian Gallery & Bookshop is located on the Upper East Side at 976 Madison Avenue.



Prince's collection can be found just behind the Gagosian bookstore.



The collection features 28 of Prince's works.



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This guy threw away a fortune in drawings by Jean-Michel Basquiat

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wass stevens

Wass Stevens is what you call New York-famous.

He's the city's best-known nightclub doorman and a sometimes actor who once battered a man with the "business-end of a velvet rope." 

Now that you have an idea of who we're dealing with, here's the latest news from Wass: He recently revealed to Page Six that he threw away a bunch of drawings given to him by the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. 

"Every time I would see him, he would draw me a little picture on a napkin or a VIP ticket, which I, of course, threw away, thinking it wouldn’t be of any worth," said Stevens.

Apparently, back when Stevens was working the door at Palladium — a haunt of artists like Andy Warhol and Keith Haring — he'd blocked Basquiat from entering the VIP room.

"I told him he was a crackhead and to get the hell away from me," he recalled. But, at the behest of Warhol, he changed his mind and let Basquiat through. Stevens assumes the drawings were a kind of thank-you. 

Though we don't know exactly what this type of casual napkin drawings would be worth today, seven lots of Basquiat's drawings on paper recently sold for prices ranging from $25,000 to $125,000. 

Talk about an expensive mistake. 

SEE ALSO: The most expensive, over-the-top pieces of art owned by tech billionaires

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The 20 highest-paying jobs for art and design majors

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artistIf you're a right-brained person and itching to turn your passion for visual arts or design into a career, you need to know your earning potential. 

We turned to PayScale, the creator of the world's largest compensation database, to find the most lucrative jobs for the artistically-inclined.

PayScale found the highest-paying jobs for art and design majors by first identifying the most common jobs for those with a bachelor's degree (and nothing more) who work full-time in the US. They then ranked those jobs by "Experienced Median Pay," which is the median compensation — including base salary, bonuses, commissions, overtime, and profit sharing (but not equity) — for those in any given profession with a "typical amount of experience."

If you want to go where the money is, set your sights on becoming a fashion designer. Chief fashion designers topped the list, earning an impressive $120,000 a year, while senior fashion designers came in second, with an experienced median pay of $98,000.

Here's the full list: 

BI_graphics_Highest Paying Jobs Art Majors

SEE ALSO: The 20 highest-paying jobs for communications majors

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A mysterious artist is posting cartoons attacking Goldman Sachs and Hillary Clinton around New York City

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Goldman Rats

A street artist has set their sights Goldman Sachs and is putting up stickers around New York City attacking the investment giant. 

Business Insider has seen two of the stickers, which both feature a version of the company's logo modified to say "Goldman Rats" and an image of a cartoonish rodent sticking out its tongue. 

One of the stickers (pictured above) is captioned "PHOOEY ON YOU, POORS." I spotted it in the subway last week, but it seems to have been around much longer. A Pinterest user based in New York took a picture of the same sticker about one year ago.

The second sticker also includes a shot at Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Text surrounding a picture of the cartoon rat declares, "WE'VE SELECTED HILLARY FOR YOU SUBMIT, POORS."

I spotted the Clinton sticker in a Brooklyn subway station last week, but it seems to have appeared in multiple locations. A blog dedicated to Brooklyn street art posted a picture taken of one of the stickers last month

The Clinton sticker is clearly relatively new. In the sticker, the "H" in "Hillary" is copied from her campaign logo, which was unveiled when she launched her campaign in April. It echoes a line of attack that has been used by one of Clinton's Democratic rivals, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), who has suggested Goldman Sachs would like to see her in the White House.

It's not clear who made the stickers..

The "Phooey" sticker bears a graffiti signature, but I can't make out what it says. If you know more please get in touch.

Check out the Clinton "Goldman Rats" sticker below. 

Goldman Rats Hillary Clinton 

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Meet the street artist whose 'selfie portraits' line the walls of Snapchat HQ

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As you walk through Snapchat's headquarters in Venice, California, you'll notice a series of bright portraits of famous innovators.

Everyone from Andy Warhol and Nelson Mandela to Tina Fey and Daft Punk have earned a spot on the startup's walls. 

But these aren't your typical stuffy portraits — in these paintings, completed in bright blues, reds, and yellows, each of the celebrities is shown through a cellphone screen, as if they were taking a selfie.  

Aptly titled "Selfie Portraits," the works were done by local street artist ThankYouX just for Snapchat.

ThankYouX, whose given name is Ryan Wilson, met Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel in August 2013. 

"Amy Powell at Paramount has an art piece of Steve Jobs in her office that I painted for her," Wilson told Business Insider.

"One of Evan's friends was having a meeting with Amy and they sent a snap of the art to him. Then I randomly got an email saying something like, 'We love your stuff and would love to meet you.'"

Spiegel invited him to check out the Snapchat office. The photo messaging startup was still based in its original beach house offices at the time.  

"Evan gave me a tour of the place and we just hung out for about an hour talking about art, tech, music, etc.," Wilson said. "A few months later they moved to bigger offices and Evan asked if I would want to do art for the offices. From there they started growing more and getting more offices."

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"I was lucky enough to grow with them and got to make art for the new spaces," he said.

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Wilson has now done 13 pieces for Snapchat — 12 that were custom-made just for the office, and one Steve Jobs piece that Wilson made for Spiegel to honor the first time they met. 

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"I loved using Snapchat, and now I love the people at Snapchat as well," he said. "It's insane to see how much this company has grown, and I'm honored to be a small piece of the story."

Wilson has been a figure on the Los Angeles street art scene since 2009. At first, most of his work were tags he did secretly late at night. 

"After a few years and lot of sleepless nights I was able to quit my job and focus only on my art," he said. "It's still funny to me that by putting my art up illegally, I was able to make a career out it."

Though he does still do some street art, most of his work these days is for local galleries. 

And Spiegel and Powell aren't his only big-name clients — he was also commissioned by Paul McCartney, who liked his piece so much he turned it into a lithograph for his tour.  

Wilson has created an installation at the Sundance Film Festival, painted a car for Lexus, and worked with Sanrio on the Hello Kitty Art Show. 

He's currently working on putting together a show that will premiere in Los Angeles in the late summer, as well as another that will be in Hong Kong in the fall. 

He was also commissioned to do a mural for Skrillex's warehouse. 

"I got to paint it while they were rehearsing for a huge tour, so I was pretty much watching the show over and over while painting," Wilson said. 

As for his street art name, going by "ThankYouX" was largely unintentional.

"It started with some stenciled poster of Andy Warhol in 2009. I wrote 'thank you' on the posters and signed them with an anonymous 'X,'" Wilson said. "I was trying to pay tribute to a giant inspiration, and from that blogs started referring to me as 'ThankYouX.'"

thankyoux

ThankYouX isn't the only artist whose work is on display at Snapchat. Spiegel also hired Wyatt Mills, a Los Angeles-based artist he knew from high school, to paint an enormous mural outside one of the buildings Snapchat leases in Venice. 

"I took a tour of Snapchat and I noticed they had a lot of empty ones. Evan told me to pick one," Mills told Business Insider. "Snapchat is an app that captures a moment in time. This mural also captures someone abstractly."

snapchat mural

Internet companies and graffiti artists are starting to become a bit of a thing. Facebook famously compensated graffiti artist David Choe with about 3.77 million shares after he painted a set of murals at the company's first offices in Palo Alto. He made about $200 million when Facebook went public in 2012.

Did Wilson get equity in fast-growing Snapchat, ahead of a potential IPO?

The artist declined to say how he was compensated by Snapchat in exchange for his art. 

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A provocative new sculpture at Versailles has sparked outrage in France

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palace of versaille

Paris (AFP) - British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor has sparked an uproar in France by installing a huge work he has called a "queen's vagina" in the stately grounds of the Palace of Versailles.

The 60-metre (200-foot) long, 10-metre (33-foot) high steel-and-rock abstract sculpture, resembling a funnel in the form of an orifice, is set up in the garden aimed directly at the royal chateau, which attracts five million tourists a year.

Kapoor, 61, has titled the work "Dirty Corner". It is part of an exhibition of his work in the grounds of the 17th century palace that opens on Tuesday and runs until November.

The artist, who has long courted controversy, told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche a week ago that "Dirty Corner" was meant to be blatantly sexual -- and regal.

It was, he said, "the vagina of a queen who is taking power".

He didn't say which queen he had in mind, but added that while the work was "ambitious", it was not so over-the-top as the scale of the opulent Versailles.

Inside the palace itself is a smaller work -- a canon that fired red wax at white walls in a symbol of phallus and ejaculation of blood.

Some French media outlets expressed unease at the level of provocation unleashed by Kapoor.

"Anish Kapoor provokes a scandal," said the website of radio station Europe 1.

The conservative daily Le Figaro saw the work as an effort "to use Versailles as an object of contrast between two types of art": the contemporary style of Kapoor and the centuries-old elegance of the French court.

Others came running to the artist's defence. Les Inrocks, a youth pop culture magazine, said only a "fascist" circle of commentators was against the sculpture.

- Not problematic, says artist -

At a media conference on Friday, the artist seemed to step away from his description of the work on the lawns of Versailles as "the queen's vagina".

"I don't remember saying it," Kapoor told reporters, but admitted that he had used the word vaginas to describe parts of the exhibition.

In any case, he said, "I don't see why it's problematic", sexual organs being universal.

"The point is to create a dialogue between these great gardens and the sculptures," he said.

The French official in charge of Versailles, Catherine Pegard, said that what was of interest to Kapoor was "the hidden chaos" of the gardens designed by Andre Le Notre, the 17th century landscape architect who designed its strict lines.

The man in charge of the exhibition, Alfred Pacquement, said the gardens formed a contrasting background for Kapoor's work.

"The dark cavity is an ever-present theme in Kapoor's work," Pacquement said.

"He brings out contradiction with perspective, upending its (the garden's) order" while taking into account the large scale of Versailles.

Kapoor's exhibition is one of the most complex at Versailles since the authorities in 2008 opened the palace and its grounds to contemporary artists. 

In 2008, Versailles hosted works by the American artist Jeff Koons, and in 2010 by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. 

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