Financial Crisis Changing Art Gallerist's Approach To Buying, Selling Gold-Plated Excrement

Javier Peres, an influential art gallerist with unusual taste, says that the economy is slightly affecting the way he does business, reports the New York Observer:

Mr. Peres' tastes run to the extreme. His artist Dash Snow's work has infamously included covers of the New York Post covered with his own semen; in 2007, Terence Koh's solo installation at Art Basel consisted of glass cases containing gold-plated pieces of what he claimed was his own excrement; they sold for a total of $500,000.

In his role as merchant, Mr. Peres says his priority has been to help finance his artists' projects, and then set prices to ensure that pieces wind up in the right hands, in other words clients who will respect the work, as opposed to just selling to whoever shows up with the most cash. But, he added, "we've been looking at the books a little bit more lately. Whereas before we didn't look at them at all: It was just spend, spend, spend."

We haven't been able to find an image of the "gold-plated excrement," but here are a few photos of the man responsible for the, uh, piece -- Terence Koh:

• • • • Mira Yeh and Terence Koh attend a dinner in Beijing.

Read the full story here

Comments

[STParker]

There is a clever statement in the gold plated excrement, of course it is very arrogant as well. Basically it says "I could take my $#!^ and cover in in gold and people will buy it" I think it is a very accurate statement on the state of the art-world and it's artistic commentary, but it doesn't say much for the artist either.

It is clever; not neccessarily good.

[Bystander]

Do we need more proof that "art" is anything and anything is art? I bet this guy is popular in the trendy NY cocktail circles...even though no one would want to shake his hand!

[obeychad]

Yawn - this is so last century. In 1961 Piero Manzoni canned his own excrement and sold it by weight for the (then) current value of gold. Though I have to say the most it's ever sold for at auction was $80,000. Ironically, a better ROI than gold.

[fleaba]

I couldn't agree more. This is all Duchamp/Armory stuff. After 4 decades of this type of c**p, can't we pulease move on. I loved pop, op, conceptual, post modern, earthworks (did my senior thesis on de Maria and those guys)..but it is time to move on to another sensibility.

[fleaba]

I didn't mean that the Armory show was within the past 40 years, it's just that for the past 40 many artists have taken that premise, "Art for art's sake" and systematically run it into the ground.

[DMcMillan]

Wonderful. More proof that no matter how crappy your art is, there is always someone somewhere that will buy it.

[rjmiller]

Is selling gold-plated feces supposed to be some sort of ironic statement on how people will buy anything that someone labels art, making it basically a practical joke played on customers? I can't think of any other justification.

[Mike169]

I think it says more about people who will buy anything made of gold than see what lies beneath it.

[arvay]

There were times, like during the European Renaissance, when the elites had a good education and real artistic taste. Unfortunately, the American art scene is overrun with rich baboons who can be easily fooled into buying gold plated feces.

Americans have never been a people that appreciates art, it's part of our macho, anti-intellectual heritage. Italy had the Medicis, we get Donald Trump. Italy got leonardo da Vinci's work and countless other artistic and architectural treasures, we get the Donald's casino/bordello Tower.

We're a relatively young nation, maybe we have a chance to grow up a bit unless we destroy ourselves.

[JulieDole]

That's a pretty broad brush to be tarring a whole country with.

The problem isn't "Americans." This guy is Chinese - check out all the pics from events in Beijing. And the article doesn't state the nationality of the buyer(s). So let's not fall into that bogus "American inferiority" claptrap. It was Americans who championed early Picasso (among others), let's not forget.

Personally, I think the guy just looks like little poseur, who came up with a stunt that got someone's attention long enough to write a check. He's just aping (Brit) Damien Hurst - who I'm also not a fan of.

There's plenty of good art out there that's actually selling, at all sorts of price ranges. (I bought a beautiful glicee' print of floating houses tethered by strings, based on the artist's dreams) just this weekend.)

It's just that that isn't as amusing a story as bodily effluent posing as (f)art.

[steve-annie]

Actually, he's Canadian. But I sure agree with the "poseur" comment - just look at that supremely arrogant expression. Back in 1942 while my dad was stationed at Bakersfield, my mother had her inexpensive Picasso prints tacked to the walls of her Fresno apartment (couldn't afford frames). Her landlady thought she had painted them ("I didn't know you was art-y")! Let's face it, this is one LARGE country and it contains all kinds of people. Sweeping generalizations are by definition fallacies, but sweeping generalizations about Americans are just pointless.

[tomk2434]

I bet Koh's eyes went white, like the painters in heroes. He predicted the economic crises perfectly.

In fact, I doubt it would be possible to better represent the US economy right before the crash.

I think it's a masterpiece statement about America. As such, I'd buy it, and put it next to heroes memorabilia.

[tomas0808]

Art is dead

[lungfish]

so draw a picture of it...

[Mike169]

Some art is dead other art is flourishing nicely. You should read about it - you may like what you see.

[Zeje]

American art is dead. It's a dying culture and the art is reflective of that.