If you haven’t yet, mark yesterday on your calendar as the true start of social media dominance. After years of hearsay, Facebook finally filed its S1 registration with the Security & Exchange Commission (SEC). The filling not only gets Facebook that much closer to its IPO on the stock exchange, it also gave people insights to company’s operations, ownerships, among other things. Already profitable, with a revenue of $3.71 billion in 2011, other interesting data bits include its average monthly active users (845 million), likes & comments per day (2.7 billion), and one of its largest income source (game maker Zynga). But the most surprising revelation was graffiti artist David Choe‘s relationship with the company.
According to The New York Times, Choe first got involved back in 2005 when then Facebook President Sean Parker (also of Napster fame) asked the artist to paint murals at its Palo Alto headquarter. When asked whether he wanted cash or stocks for the work, Choe smartly chosen stocks even when he thought Facebook would come to little success. The story is quite different 7 years later and if the initial valuation of the company is correct, at an estimation of $100 billion in market value, David Choe’s shares would be equivalent to $200 million dollars. Thus making him on par with Damien Hirst as one of the richest artist alive today and certainly the richest graffiti artist around. But Choe would tell it differently. From his works with Facebook, he also struck up lifelong friendships. In a recent mural painting session, Choe even asked ZUCK ONE, better known as Mark Zuckerberg, Founder & CEO of Facebook, to contribute (see video after the jump) via: NYTimes
In 2008, following a two-day auction through Sotheby’s of 223 artworks by Damien Hirst (which raked in a staggering $200.7 million), the controversial artist declared that he would no longer produce his signature spot paintings. Hirst has since changed his mind (in spectacular fashion): not only is he making the circular designs once again, he’s arranged for all eleven of the Gagosian galleries throughout the world to host retrospectives of his spot artwork simultaneously, from January 12th through February 18th. Additionally, Hirst will exhibit a collection of twelve new Spot Prints at his London store Other Criteria. Consisting of eight silk screens and four woodblock prints, the installation will be displayed from January 10th through February 14th. The timing of the two events is impeccable; Hirst, if anything, is an enterprising artist. It’s an especially trenchant point when one considers that he’s painted only five of the spot canvases himself, while all the others were created by assistants.
The title of this story should be “A Cautionary Tale of Never Say Never”. But when the central figure is artist Damien Hirst, somehow the definition of “never” is contorted. After sidelined his dealer and one of the most powerful gallerists, Larry Gagosian, when he dealt directly with Sotheby’s auction house back in 2008. The capricious Hirst also declared the end of his signature “spots” paintings. It turns out not to be the case. Come on January 12th, Hirst will take over all of Larry Gagosian‘s eleven galleries worldwide for an ego-tripping retrospective of his “spots” artwork.
Exhibition Dates: January 12th, 2012 (Thursday) – February 18th, 2012 (Saturday)
For a few, it was home. For many others, Japan’s odd mix of traditions and modernities served as their place of inspirations. So when pop artist Takashi Murakami started plans for his charity auction to benefit the ongoing recovery efforts from March’s devastating Tohoku-Pacific Earthquake, artists like Yoshitomo Nara, Cindy Sherman, KAWS, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, and more jumped on the chance. Even gallerist Larry Gagosian and Christie’s auction house chairman Francois Pinault decided to pitch in.
After a 3-day long showing at Gagosian Gallery, the Tohoku-Pacific Earthquake Benefit Auction went underway this morning at Christie’s New York headquarters. With actor Ken Watanabe presiding, the 20 works of art sold briskly in the matter of few hours. By the time the final gravel fell, the auction generated a total of $8,756,100 million. What’s more, “KAWSBOB Enters The Strange Forest”, a 60-inch in diameter acrylic on canvas by artist KAWS, fetched a whopping price of $155,000! A additional $110,000 more than the highest estimate price and a new record price for the artist’s work. Congratulation to all who participated.
Seven months have passed already since the tragic earthquake and tsunami that hit the Tohoku region of Japan on 3/11. Unfortunately, the catastrophic event have left many still homeless, all now are battling to rebuild their communities. At the same time, the region is fighting for some sort of normalcy after multiple failures at Fukushima nuclear power plant . In the hopes of bringing worldwide attention on the wounded country, Christie’s and Takashi Murakami, in conjunction with many generous artists, have initiated the Tohoku-Pacific Earthquake Benefit Auction, to be held on Wednesday, November, 9th at Christie’s New York.
Notable artists donating their impressive artworks include Takashi Murakami, KAWS, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Yoshitomo Nara, Zeng Fanzhi, Mark Grotjahn, Thomas Houseago, Friedrich Kunath, Mr., Gabriel Orozco, Anselm Reyle, Cindy Sherman, Aya Takano and Luc Tuymans. Preview of the auctioning pieces will be held at Gagosian Gallery from October 26th until 28th, for those interested to take part in the auction. Furthermore, Oscar-nominated actor Ken Watanabe will be officially opening the sale with a reading of a Japanese poem.
Christie’s
20 Rockefeller Plaza | Map
New York, NY 10020
Auction Date: November, 9th, 2011 (Wednesday)
Garage, the new fashion magazine created by Dasha Zhukova, is already making waves, even as its debut issue has yet to hit newsstands. It is the first issue, in fact, that has people talking. More specifically, it’s the three different covers, the most provocative of which sports a Hedi Slimane photograph of the lower half of a nude model, strategically covered with a peel-away butterfly sticker designed by Damien Hirst (the concept is modeled after Andy Warhol’s removable banana sticker from the landmark album Velvet Underground & Nico). Another version of the cover features a smiley face drawn by Richard Prince that bears a suspicious resemblance to the Kool-Aid Man, while the other is a Nick Knight photograph of a gothic doll house created by Dinos Chapman. Aside from the high-profile artists commissioned for the cover art, the magazine has a compelling handmade quality that sets it apart from its glossy, digitally designed competitors. Look for the inaugural issue to be published during New York’s Fashion Week. Images of the three planned covers follow the jump.
Fans of funk-rock pioneers the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have waited years for the band to get together to record new music, are about to be rewarded for their patience. Following relentless touring in support of the band’s 2006 release Stadium Arcadium, the members of the Grammy-award winning quartet – singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, guitarist John Frusciante, drummer Chad Smith – decamped to separate quarters to enjoy a long hiatus. In 2009 fans were saddened to learn Frusciante had left the group; touring guitarist Josh Kliffhonger was announced as his replacement. The new lineup will release the band’s tenth album, I’m With You, on August 30th. Cover art, courtesy of famed British artist Damien Hirst, was revealed July 5th on the group’s website.
Over the years the Chilis have undergone an obvious maturation, as the callow street punk attitude, embodied by manic club shows in which the band stormed the stage wearing nothing but strategically placed tube socks, gave way to introspection and lyrics about addiction and loss. Hedonism and drugs were eventually replaced by Buddhism and contemporary art. In the framing of this evolution, it makes perfect sense that the artwork on the latest album be created by Damien Hirst, the one-time “bad boy of Brit art,” whose path to respectability has also been long and storied.
Damien Hirst is certainly not a poster boy for the term “starving artist”. His controversial artworks, which already netted him millions, complement with his business acumen have enriched the artist an estimated net worth of $388 million. And that was during an art market low back in 2009. One such tactful dealing by Hirst will take place on Thursday, July 12th, at the artist’s publishing venture, Other Criteria, where 200 skate decks will be for sale again. Originally from the 2009 collaboration, where Supreme produced a run of 500 with 100 more artist proof editions. Hirst gets to keep 200 artist proof editions as well.
Of the 200 decks that will be for sale, 40 will be signed by Hirst and comes with a recent drawing by the artist. Price? Around $1,945 per deck, close to a 2000% mark-up from the original Supreme prices. Not to shabby for an artist. Sale will start in store on July 12th with online purchase available starting July 14th.
Release Dates:
July 12th, 2011 (Tuesday) – Store Only
July 14th, 2011 (Thursday) – Online
Other Criteria
14 Hinde Street | Map
London, W1U 3BG England
TEL #: +44-20-7935-5550
It’s pretty obvious what the overall theme was this week: shows – both runway and buyer’s events. From Pitti Uomo in Florence, to Paris Fashion Week, to Bread and Butter in Berlin, and Agenda and (capsule), in our own New York City, which had artistic direction by Dr. Romenelli, who released an inspired Chuck Taylor. The first Green Hornet collaboration, with the PHANTACi and New Balance collaboration released this week, along with a full Bape women’s line – inspired, but a bit confusing. Plus, MCM splashed onto the blogs with a capsule collection done with Phenomenon, which would do Lady Gaga proud. Other fashion news on the higher-concept end was the Junya Watanabe MAN preview of the Spring/Summer 2011 collection. And the one-time soccer hooligan staple Stone Island proved it’s reinvention doubly over this week with two amazing new jackets, while in other soccer news, Nike announced it’s project for the French Football Federation, with a full Sportswear collection and on-pitch kit for the national team. Nike also released a capsule collection inspired by Steven Alan, who got quite a bit of free rein with the sneakers. It was another big KAWS week too, starting with the release of his Companion as interpreted by Robert Lazzarrini, and ending with the release of his lightbulb project for the Standard Hotel. Also in art news, we had a preview of the Damian Hirst exhibit at the Gagosian in Hong Kong. And finally, while some people might be (and others definitely are) sick of the Destroyer jacket, there was news on that front this week too, most notably the video of Edison Chen creating his own at the Nike Stadium. Get the full edit of anything you might have missed this week after the jump.
Damien Hirst, one of the most influential British artist of our generation, made his way to Hong Kong for the opening Forgotten Promises, his exhibition currently at the new Gagosian Gallery located in Hong Kong’s Central District. All of the artworks were exhibited for the first time in Hong Kong and the exhibition showcases the depth of styles from sculptures to paintings. Not to be taken as a “serious artist”, Hirst was happy to show his professional side as well as his playful nature during the press preview.
A large scale gold-plated silver sculpture welcomes the visitors at the entrance of the gallery. It is an almost life size piece that shows Saint Bartholomew skinning himself entitled Exquisite Pain. Walking past the sculpture, the series of butterflies paintings filled up the left side of the gallery. These were meticulously painted over a two year period, an intrigue oil painting over photo prints. Halfway through the gallery, a gold skeletal sculpture, Cupid’s Lie, situated right in front of another work of decadence, the platinum plated For Heaven’s Sake, a sculpture set with 8,128 pink and white diamonds. Around to the right side of the gallery is a series of metallic paintings, New Found Magnificence, Dreams of Magnificence and New Magnificence, which featured real butterflies details. The exhibition is current on display at Gagosian Gallery Hong Kong till March of this year.
Gagosian Gallery
7/F, Pedder Building | Map
12 Pedder Street
Central, Hong Kong
Exhibition Dates: January 18th (Tuesday) – March 19th (Saturday)
No stranger to the prerequisites of Gross Anatomy 101, artist Damien Hirst’s matter-of-fact depictions of death, in various forms, are not only sensational. They force us to confront the frailty of life itself. All the more ideal to have UK-base artist to take part in the CONVERSE PRODUCT(RED) Collection. An off-shoot of PROJECT(RED), portion of the proceeds from the sales of PRODUCT(RED) merchandises will go to Global Fund, a charity program for the fight against AIDS/HIV in Africa. Initially released 2 months ago, the special Chuck Taylor All-Star with Hirst artwork sold out immediately. Mainly due to the fact Hirst’s works sell for millions on average and the canvas top was the most affordable variant.
In light of World AIDS Day on December 1 st, the newly opened CONVERSE Specialty Store in SoHo, NYC launched some of the last Damien Hirst collaboration. Now available in very limited quantity at the store.
There is nothing subtle about Charles Saatchi except his demeanor when out in public (famous for being a recluse). The hard charging advertising exec created one of the most prominent ad firm, Saatchi & Saatchi, with his brother Maurice. And in the same attitude and relentless pursue, he accumulated perhaps the largest modern art collection, not to mention his early sponsorship of artist Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread, and Marc Quinn. A feat, which earned him the title “savior of British contemporary art” by his admirers and a provocation spin-master by his detractors. But apparently Saatchi panned out to give away all, some 200+ artworks, to the public. In a surprise news release today, Saatchi announced upon his retirement, his 70,000 square-foot Saatchi Gallery and the works within will become MOCA London (Museum of Contemporary Art, London). It was just recently the gallery moved to the Duke of York HQ, a sprawling complex in Chelsea, London. Completely free to the public, the proposed museum will retain some of the seminal works by Tracey Emin, Chapman brothers, as well as a rotation of exhibits. Not to burden the already tighten public budget, Saatchi’s spokeperson stated the “All costs associated with the storage, restoration or cataloguing the collection will be borne by the museum,” No date is set for the official transfer.
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