Marc Quinn's Golden Fetish

Photo: © Getty Images

Marc Quinn’s golden sculpture of Kate Moss has finally been made public at the British Museum as part of its Statuefilia exhibition. As expected, Quinn’s statue of Moss is in a similar pose as his bronze sculpture of the British model titled Sphinx. Apparently the golden version of Kate Moss was to be titled Siren, but has been renamed Aphrodite. According to the museum the piece is the largest gold sculpture to be made since the days of ancient Egypt. Quinn created the sculpture with over two millions dollars worth of gold. It has been suggested that the piece will earn six times that once sold.

As I’ve mentioned before… I’m not exactly impressed with art that meshes with celebrity. Marc Quinn and Daniel Edwards take top prize for that as far as I’m concerned. Will Damien Hirst be able to top Quinn's golden Moss? Perhaps Andres Serrano will sculpt Kate Moss or another celebrity in his own little way? That might actually be interesting.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Senior Editor

www.myartspace.com

Marc Quinn and his Golden Idol

Detail of "Siren"-- British Museum/PA Wire

If you want to make headlines with your art you need only knock on the door of celebrity-- or so it seems. We have seen this time and time again in recent years. Since I’ve been cynical of Daniel Edwards work involving celebrities in the past I feel that I must stick to my guns and cast an eye at Marc Quinn’s most recent work. Quinn has created a sculpture of British supermodel Kate Moss-- again.

This is not the first time that Marc Quinn has used Kate Moss as his muse. In 2006, he unveiled his Sphinx, a painted bronze statue of Moss that caused some controversy due to the provocative yoga pose of the statue. The end result then was the same as now-- headlines for the artist. Quinn’s new sculpture of Kate Moss, titled Siren, is a 110-pound statue worth over $2 million in solid gold. Detailed images of the statue have yet to be made public. However, some sources have suggested that the statue of Moss involves the same edgy pose as Sphinx-- why break from a successful formula, right?

When asked about Siren, Quinn stated, "I thought the next thing to do would be to make a sculpture of the person who's the ideal beauty of the moment, but even Kate Moss doesn't live up to the image.". Maybe Kate Moss is his ideal of beauty? She certainly is not mine. Maybe the next thing to do is for certain aspects of the art world to go beyond bling and celebrity. Britney Spears pregnant on all fours as imagined by Daniel Edwards, a diamond skull thanks to Damien Hirst, and now Kate Moss made out of gold by Marc Quinn! I don’t think I can handle much more of this meshing of celebrity and bling. What say you?

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Senior Editor

www.myartspace.com

Art Space News: Daniel Edwards 'Shocks' us again.

He shocked us with his sculpture of pop star Britney Spears giving birth- perhaps that is why she has crashed again? He awed us with his 'sexy' bust of Hillary Clinton- now I know why Bill strayed! He even amazed us with Suri's bronzed baby poop- or did that sculpture represent TomKat's media life? Regardless of any supposed meaning behind his work, Daniel Edwards is serving art viewers another round of... think Suri's bronzed baby poop.

This time Edwards has set his sights on another celebrity: Paris Hilton. Edwards has created a sculpture of the hotel heiress and socialite as a naked corpse, with cell phone in hand, legs spread and crowned with a tiara. Edwards stated that the "Paris Hilton Autopsy" is a "statement about the dangers of drunk driving just as high school prom season rolls around...". What? How noble of you Mr. Edwards... unfortunately I believe I see another intention behind his work!

"It's really kind of a wake-up call for anybody who really pays attention to Paris Hilton, close enough that they might end up emulating her," stated Edwards about the piece. I think a different type of 'wake-up call' is in order. I think it is time we cut through the bronzed Suri poop in order to discover the intentions of Mr. Edwards and his sculptures. Isn't it ironic that he decides to unveil this piece just a few days after Hilton's sentencing? Am I the only one making the connection?

In my eyes Edwards is leeching off of the lives of celebrities in order to advance his own career. Sadly, we live in a time that anyone can become famous over night by making a mockery of a celebrity, political figure, or anyone else of supposed importance. This art-stardom can occur regardless of talent, skill, or process of thought behind the work- IF the the timing is right. I will give Mr. Edwards one thing- he sure knows how to time the unveiling of his work. His strategy is flawless.

This strategy of combating the cult of popularity with absurd sculptures is really paying off for Edwards. However, he does not claim that as his intention. If he did I might actually respect his kitsch sculptures for what they are. Instead, he attempts to put deep meaning behind works that only boil down to shock.

I strongly suspect that Edwards creates work that boils down to numbers- as in the the numbers of people who will stumble upon his sculptures while doing popular searches. In other words, Edwards creates sculptures that he knows will gain attention based on the people they represent.

For example, if you do a Google search on Britney Spears you will find links to Edwards sculpture after just a few page views. The same goes for Suri- after a few pages you will find yourself in TomKat crap. Edwards is creating sculptures that demand views online. Sculptures that leech off searches that a countless number of people make every day on popular search engines.

I've observed Mr. Edwards work at the Bridge Art Fair in Chicago. His sculpture of Spears seemed to be the figurehead of the exhibit. However, there were better examples of art at the fair- art that was more deserving of that position- art that does not have to rely on media hype to make a point.

People viewing the piece did not see a deep meaning behind it. They did not see a pro-life message as Edwards has stated was his intention. They saw an absurd sculpture... a funny moment.... something to be captured from the flash of a camera while pointing at the sculpture in a sexually suggestive manner with their friends.

That is my opinion,

Brian Sherwin