Art Digest: Notable News of the Beginning of 2019
What surprising events have already happened at the beginning of 2019? Let’s find out from our art work digest.
- French artist hid $1,000 in mural-puzzle
Very few people are surprised that even the art work world tends to popularize the most famous crypto-currency in the world — bitcoin. Artists create their masterpieces by dedicating them to bitcoin or somehow integrate their art into the world of electronic currency. That is why the first news from our art digest is devoted to the mixture of crypto and art.
Muralist Pascal Boyart in his Twitter said that his new art work represents a history-inspired puzzle. In his micro-blog, he reported the cash prize draw and thanked investor Alistair Milne for sponsoring his idea. The access key the e-wallet that contains 0.26 BTC (equivalent to $1,000) is hidden in the mural. To solve the riddle, you need to find this street art on a particular street in Paris, since Boyart did not name the exact address.
Photo credit: Pascal Boyart Official Website/pboy-art.com
This remarkable large artwork depicts a modernized ultra-current replica of the famous painting of the French artist Eugène Delacroix “Liberty Leading the People” (“La liberté guidant le people”). In Boyart’s version, instead of the rebels who originally organized a revolt against Charles X King of France in 1830, we see rebels wearing yellow vests. Of course, this large painting is a reference to the events of the end of 2018 in France.
- 19-meter demon statue by Damien Hirst will be installed in a Las Vegas hotel
The next news from our art digest is dedicated to the nightmare art work. “The Demon without a head with a bowl in his hands” (2014) is perhaps the most famous object of the Damien Hirst’s project – “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable.” The artist has invested about 50 million dollars in his creations. The project was first presented at the exhibition in 2017 in Venice in the one of the most famous art galleries – Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana. Back then, a rubber version of “Demon” was shown which soon after the exhibition was destroyed.
Photo credit: Palms Casino Resort Official Website/palms.com
Now the bronze version of this bizarre statue, almost the size of a 5-story house, will decorate the swimming pool in the luxurious Palms Casino Resort hotel in Las Vegas. The poolroom with the Hirst’s art installation inside will be ready for opening in March 2019. Hoteliers, casino owners, avid art collectors and longtime fans of Hirst – brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta – bought this colossal sculpture. The bar in the same hotel is already decorated with the legendary tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde in a vitrine.
The art gallery installation put into a luxurious LA hotel is a part of a massive $690 million renovation of Palms Casino Resort. Tal Cooperman, the Creative Director of the hotel, decorated it with other outstanding artworks by such contemporary art creators as Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Takashi Murakami, etc.
- Partially destroyed Banksy’s art work will be presented to the general public
The last but not the least news from our art digest considers the “self-destructed” graffiti by Banksy, which made a lot of noise in 2018. This heart-warming painting radically changed the public’s view of the so-called “art of destruction,” which by the way, existed long before the extravagant antics of Banksy. For example, French impressionist Claude Monet, who created about 250 bright oil paintings of water lilies, in 1908 destroyed, according to various sources, from 15 to 30 of them, as he was not satisfied with the result. However, Banksy’s “Girl with a Balloon” was not just self-destructed within five minutes but surprisingly turned into a new masterpiece, which later received the name “Love is in the Bin.”
Photo credit: Banksy Official Website/banksy.co.uk
This fantastic art work will be open to a wide audience next month at the legendary Frieder Burda Museum in Baden-Baden. It is known that the buyer of the original Banksy’s graffiti at the historic Sotheby’s auction was a collector from Germany.
