5 awkward moments in the art world in 2014
2014 was a pretty agitated year for the art world!
Plagiarism, provocative actions, LOTS of provocative actions, unexpected performances with more provocative actions, activism in many forms, destructions…. Therefore, we’ve decided to create a TOP 5 for the most awkward moments in art world in 2014.
5. But first… Let me take a selfie.
It is no coincidence that ‘selfie’ is one of the words of the year! The guy who wanted to take a picture of himself with the statue ‘Drunken Satyr’, dating from the 19th century, can confirm that…when he thought it would look very realistic to take a selfie sitting on one of the legs of the sculpture.
4. We ♥ contemporary art
Unsurprisingly half the world is governed by the principle of “showing off”, which is why our number 4 should not cause great strangeness. The joke of a group of broadcasters who created Lana Newstrom’s invisible art, was taken quite seriously, and there were many collectors who tried to buy the “artwork”, even if it was … nothing.
3. Christmas Tree
Nobody can invoke provocation in sculptures, installations and videos like Paul McCarthy. The Christmas tree, as the public entitled it, but better known as “butt plug”, was installed at the elegant “Place Vondôme”, which hosts the French Ministry of Justice and de Ritz Hotel. Needless to say, the awkward installation did not last a whole day and the author got a slap in the face out of it, “kindness” from one of the presents.
2. At first everybody falls for it. At second…
The news that we’ve selected for number 2 represents a bomb for the art market, even though that didn’t affected directly the enthusiasm of the exhibition visitors. “Naked”, a sculpture by Jeff Koons that is exhibited at the “Centre Pompidou” received a complaint for violation of copyright, for being allegedly inspired on a photography. Curiously, the artwork was removed from the exhibition for being “slight damaged, probably during the transportation.” This was the second sculpture from Jeff Koons retrospective at the “Pompidou “that was subject of the same complaint.
1. Ex libris of art world in 2014: the pot whisperer
The most awkward presence in our list of artistic events in 2014 is the case of an artist who decided to break a pot from the ‘Ai Wewei’s: According to What?’ exhibition by the Chinese artist himself. In an attempt to draw attention to artists who, like him, never received any support for his work, the artist decided to seek revenge on the piece from the collection ‘Colored Vases’, in exhibition at Perez Art Museum Miami. The artist assumes that he had no idea that the piece was worth 1 million dollars, and already regrets his very angry gesture.
