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Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's

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apocalypse-nowish
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
I know everyone hates him but I LOVE him. Hate me if you must but tis true.
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BookishLookish
11/13/08

@apocalypse-nowish: Me too.
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Hamilton Nolan
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
Basquiat is in fact the bomb. Soak in it.
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GirlyWhirl
11/13/08

@Hamilton Nolan:

I will concur that Basquiat had the hottest hair of any artist ever.
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GirlyWhirl
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
Why does ludicrously expensive contemporary art almost always equal very crappy art? What about the good contemporary art? It seems no celebrities or people in the public eye collect the good stuff.
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Mount_Prion
11/13/08

@GirlyWhirl: Good contemporary art like "The Lonely Cowboy" here. (sorta nsfw, just putting link not pic)
[blog.wired.com]
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BadUncle
11/13/08

@GirlyWhirl: Hmmmm. I can see meta-critical aesthetic flame wars on the horizon.
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GirlyWhirl
11/13/08

@Mount_Prion:

Ahhaha! Yeah... exactly like that.

@BadUncle:

I should stay out of the "Art" threads. It can only lead to trouble.
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AuntPeniston
11/13/08

@GirlyWhirl: In all seriousness, what would you consider "the good stuff?" If it can't be "abstract crap," or anything that rejects traditional aesthetics and concepts of beauty, then what? Pretty landscapes?
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GirlyWhirl
11/13/08

@AuntPeniston:

I do like pretty landscapes. But I would say my favorite living artist is Antonio Lopez Garcia. I love Claudio Bravo, Odd Nerdrum, Daniel Sprick, Steven Assael, Will Wilson, William Beckman as just a few examples of my personal taste.

And to be honest I shouldn't have labeled abstract as "crap" because that's a huge generalization, and although it's not my particular leaning there is most definitely some that I find interesting and much that has value for many people.

I was just being a jerk and small-minded.
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AuntPeniston
11/13/08

@GirlyWhirl: Well, I was being a bit of a jerk myself by instigating the kind of crap BadUncle just warned us about. I just couldn't help myself.
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SidAndFinancy
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
Mysterious phone bidder Dave Mustaine!

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ElvisWorley
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
The painting reminds me of that time I took two doses of mescaline and watched star wars. I flipped out when the sand people took Luke.

I wish this were a joke.
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GirlyWhirl
11/13/08

@ElvisWorley:

Ahahhaaha! Can I still laugh even though it's not a joke?

My brother took acid and personally met Bullwinkle once.
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Mount_Prion
11/13/08

@ElvisWorley: The first time I saw Zoolander I was on acid. None of it made any sense until the giant floating disembodied head of David Bowie appeared. At this point I thought to myself, "OOOOH! David Bowie! Of course!"
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Baroness
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
Yet one of John Currin's god-ghastly pair of noodle-women with his wife's face set a record for his scorchingly overrated paintings. No justice.

"My husband is the best painter in the world. Everyone knows that."

-Rachel Feinstein

[www.artnet.com]
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GirlyWhirl
11/13/08

@Baroness:

I despise his stuff! It's so, so, SO ugly. I'm not into abstract... but I would look at abstract crap all day long before spending a moment with one of Currin's paintings. And yes, they are SO overrated and overvalued... it's mind-boggling.
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Baroness
11/13/08

@GirlyWhirl: Right? And his wife's swanning around in furs, appearing in Vogue constantly, and making comments like that.. she's an artist too, and ought to know better- among artists, it's tremendously uncool to speak of art-making as if it were competitive sport. And in any case, he isn't, darling Rachel. Eat a bon-bon.

Another thing that bugs me- every article about Currin marvels that his technique is to use something magical called glazes, some like Calvin Tomkins (iirc) in the New Yorker going as far as to claim he single-handedly rediscovered the technique from..yore. Uh, no- the technique is taught in every serious painting program in any reputable art school. Currin's rubber-chicken figures, cartoonish sensibility- no wonder he's descended to painting porn. It really does appeal to collectors at that level- so subversive!- but clearly, he's incapable of painting ...so old- fashioned to say....beauty.
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flossy
11/13/08

@Baroness: Can we add Elizabeth Peyton, Marlene Dumas and Cecily Brown to the list of OMG WTF are people thinking buying this overrated crap?

Hey collectors and Currin fans! If you like shitty painting with a porny sensibility, allow me to introduce you to Martin Eder's "Woman Masturbating Surrounded By Bad Towels (2006)."

[www.artnet.com]
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TerseNursePornstein
11/13/08

@Baroness: Absolute heresy! Seriously. Also: glazing, which is a form of indirect painting, is not taught in schools today-- only in atelier-style programs, most outside the U.S. Most painters teaching in University are products of the 70s/80s-era art school curriculum. It's a damned miracle that any of 'em can draw the figure.

Currin rules. Never mind if you don't like the subject matter-- he's the master of his material. A painter's painter and a true anomaly today, is he.
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Nic Fit
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
Worth. Every. Penny.
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GirlyWhirl
11/13/08

@Nic Fit:

You. Could. Paint. It. Yourself.
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Nic Fit
11/13/08

@GirlyWhirl: No. I. Couldn't. Why. Don't. You. Good. Luck.
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Carol Gardens
11/13/08

@Nic Fit: Also. Try. Being. As. Goodlooking. As. He. Was.
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ambitious
11/13/08

@Carol Gardens: And. savvy.

Seriously, think you can do a better job? Go for it. Why the hell not. If getting millions (or even thousands) for (what is deemed by some) as shite work is so easy, then why don't you try it?

Hell, why don't we all?
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BookishLookish
11/13/08

@Nic Fit: I adored him. When he wasn't on drugs he was charming. Used to smuggle food out of fancy restaurants and feed the street kids. Loved him for that.
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Omitofo
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
Does this mean the gallerinas employed in New York City will lose their jobs and move back home to their parents' mansions in Los Angeles? Ugh, I hope the economy turns around, because I don't want to have to run into them at the Coffee Bean. Their ramblings in prep school were all that I could take.
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ambitious
11/13/08

@Omitofo: No. They'll just start to focus more on their DJ gigs.
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BookishLookish
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
Basquiat used to draw on the walls of the Mudd Club back in the day, wish I'd spent my time scraping some off the walls instead of doing speed and pogo'ing.
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Carol Gardens
11/13/08

@BookishLookish: And why didn't I rip those Haring subway chalk paintings off of the wall? Probably because it was the early 80s and I was too busy avoiding being mugged beneath ground. PS: I like Basquiat. There, I said it.
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gladys_kravitz
11/13/08

@Carol Gardens: Thank God that there are other people here old enough to remember the Mudd Club. Keith Haring was everywhere back in the day and then, poof, gone. Sad.
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bringmemyTofu
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
The boys from Jethro Tull pooled some cash together and bought Ulrich's painting to make up for that first Metal Grammy fiasco.
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Choire
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
That is the most misleading Times headline in history. "Mixed Results for Contemporary Art Sale at Christie's"???

They realized $113.6 million. Their LOW ESTIMATE for the evening was $227 million. This auction was a shitshow.
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skahammer
11/13/08

@Choire: But a headline like that practically screams "No conclusions here! Move along!" Where could an innocent reader be misled to?
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ambitious
11/13/08

@Choire: This is precisely how the art world has been able to keep its head in the sand for the last 9 months (longer even!) and pretend everything is FINE just FINE! GREAT actually! HAVE SOME MORE WINE.

All the while, summer break was quieter than usual, fairs have been sucking eggs, people are scaling back on Miami, etc. etc. Galleries closing (Plane Space, Clementine, probably Rivington Arms) . . . It's like, no one wants to let on that they know shits getting ill because then it will be true. But it is.
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flossy
11/13/08

@ambitious: Rivington Arms deserves to fail. Having a father who is a famous artist and willing to bankroll your gallery will only take you so far, especially when your claim to fame is partying a lot and foisting Dash Snow upon the world.
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ambitious
11/13/08

@flossy: Here motherfreaking here. Also: they are not nice to people. I'm talking cold and sassy even by art world standards.
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flossy
11/13/08

@ambitious: Oh yeah. I interviewed once for one of those unpaid, sit-at-the-front-desk-and-do-nothing kind of internships there (Don't judge! I needed something to do at the time).

Not only was I not hired, I was told by my interviewer that if I pursued my intended career path, I would "end up managing some podunk gallery in Kansas because there are no art jobs in New York City."

Now I have an awesome job that I love, in the arts, in New York City. So suck it Rivington Arms. I hope those semen-stained Dash Snow pieces are cold comfort when you close!
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britneyspearstears
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
He sold it because, "He's ready to move on to the next ten years, or next decade, or next phase of his life..."

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The Doctor
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
I don't know who Christie is, but the last time a Metallica drummer told me he could save me with his Basquiat it did not end well.
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anonymousryan
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
Is it just me, or does anyone else hate 1980s New York art? Basquiat and especially Haring just really annoy the fuck out of me for some reason.
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Dickens_Ghost
11/13/08

@anonymousryan: (waves)
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GirlyWhirl
11/13/08

@anonymousryan:

I'm with you. And the fact that it's so coveted by some blows my mind. My three year old nephew's work is of a much higher aesthetic quality, and I can get it for free.
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Larry Fine
11/13/08

@GirlyWhirl: I am interested in acquiring your nephew's pieces. Would you consider $5 million for his entire body of work?
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GirlyWhirl
11/13/08

@pareenesterrine:

Shit. For $5 million, I'll let you have visitation rights with the artist himself.
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BadUncle
11/13/08

@anonymousryan: I think John Alexander is still a vibrant, interesting artist. And his work has changed a lot, over the years.
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BadUncle
11/13/08

@BadUncle: and, to bring things full circle to my favorite artist, Alexander is sometimes compared to Bacon.
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Larry Fine
11/13/08

@GirlyWhirl: I am afraid Megan's law prevents me from agreeing to your proposal.
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ChuffedLittleMuffin
11/13/08

@GirlyWhirl: This is the laziest critique possible. Your three-year-old nephew could muster something more interesting to say, I'm sure.
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GirlyWhirl
11/13/08

@ChuffedLittleMuffin:

You do know I'm not being paid to write comprehensive art reviews here, right?

And I agree my nephew would have something much more interesting to say. It would probably involve ice cream, bumblebees, and Thomas the Tank Engine.
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wattznext
11/13/08

@BadUncle: I have heard he is salty, crispy and tasty!
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metroville
11/13/08

In reply to Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
I'm going to download that painting for free on Napster. F you, Lars.
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seancasio
11/13/08

@metroville: Well Done!
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Larry Fine
11/13/08

@seancasio: Seconded.
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