Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Cans, 1962, MoMA



Link to short video clip about MoMA's Campbell's Soup Cans, 1962 by Andy Warhol http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/audios/57/1098
 

Andy Warhol's Factory model of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s now has its counterpart in the work of Damien Hirst, Jeff, Koons and Takashi Murakami.

Of course, centuries earlier, painters such as Velasquez adopted factory models as well, hiring painters to work on his large scale history paintings.

Read Don Thompson's chapters on Hirst, Warhol and Koons as well as Sarah Thornton's chapter on Murakami to get a sense of how today's artists are

exploiting the so-called factory model. Choose one of these factory-style artists and comment on their particular marketing strategies and market appeal.

Robert Hughes's comments on Hirst may come back into play as you consider the slipping market share of this once coveted trend-setter. We will

examine Hirst's Beautiful Inside My Head Forever auction (Christie's, London, 2008) as an in depth case study in the last week of the course. Provide

links to articles, interviews with artists, and/or examples of particular factory produced works to support your post.

Readings

Don Thompson: ARTH 4696 FINLEY Damien Hirst and the Shark THOMPSON.pdf

Don Thompson: ARTH 4696 FINLEY Warhol Koons and Emin THOMPSON.pdf

Sarah Thornton: ARTH 4696 FINLEY The Studio Visit THORNTON.pdf

Individual Contributions

Vincent Anthony Falkiewicz

Erica Gilbert-Levin  

Kimberly Ann Phoenix

Jeff Koons sees nothing wrong with the way his art is produced.  He basically oversees the arts creations; he designs it and any where from 95 to 120 technicians sculpts or cast objects.  In some of his early work common household object placed in water or mounted on lights to become art.  He is unashamed of his work or the way it is produced comparing himself to the masters (Dannatt) or Andy Warhol.

            His marketing strategy could be larger then life.  Many of his sculptures are large meant to be viewed in large spaces or out doors.
He has, or his technicians have done some smaller sculptures but a lot of his work is large.  He has called some his paintings large sophisticated paint by numbers.  In the workshop you can see many people working on the same painting, one has to wonder if you can really call it Koons work.  At the very least those who work on these large pieces should be given credit for the work they contribute.  His series of sculptures Made in Heaven, based on his marriage to Italian porn star Cicciolina, could be preserved as pornography.  He is always looking to shock views and promote talk, good or bad about his work.
            The appeal of his work is to those who want to impress others by saying they "own a Koons."  As pointed out in our reading when he does a new sculpture he negotiates with a prominent collector or museum to own the first in the series, to create media hype.  His work is viewed by many as kitsch and of such you either love it or hate it (Stevens). In the BBC video from several days ago Robert Hughes could barley contain his disgust for this kitschy work, he had a hard time calling it art.
   


http://supermarkart.blogspot.com/2010/03/jeff-koons-and-his-art-factory.htm

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92873040

http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/art/reviews/9172/, stevens

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Jeff-Koons-on-his-Serpentine-show-his-inspirations-and-how-his-studio-system-works/18566, Dannat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Koons

This is a video of Jeff Koons talking about his facory:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XGGe4YXWZU

 

 

Consider & comment:
What did you think of today's readings and wiki features? What issues if any did they raise for you? How did the audio visual material provided support your understanding of this topic? Comment on your classmates' posts. Leave your comments in the box below.