To answer the assignment I am going to reflect on an article written in “Bergensavisen” on the 18th of January 2019. Am also going to use information from the syllabus to strengthen the arguments. Pushwanger has for generations been one of the biggest and best-known painters. Both his life and his well-known art is analysed and discussed by many people over the years. A big amount of the population, however, feels Pushwagner has been exploited both before and after his death. The main reason for this article is to comment on what level the commercial interest is taking over for the genuine and original art Pushwagner created during his lifetime.
Vault gallery in Bergen has sold almost 200 different pictures from the famous painter Pushwagner. The chairman of Vault gallery Nor Saghaug told Bergensavisen (BA), a local newsletter in Bergen how fantastic the sale has gone, and refer to the relevancy Pushwagner still has today as the main cause for the popularity.
Despite big sells numbers, Vault gallery has gained criticism and unpopularity for their methods used in the process. The main reason for the criticism is due to Pushwagners lack of involvement in the printing process himself. Saghaug later responded to the critic by normalizing it and uses both Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat as examples of two painters who neither was involved in the making process or signed any of the work. Chairman Mangne Vagsnes has later shown his concern by the approach Vault gallery has used in the prosses and describe it as unoriginal. In the same interview, Saghuag also uses his time to praise the creativity.
“Kunstnernes Hus” by Bosc d’Anjou is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The main issue in this article is the conflict between financial and cultural interest. Vault Gallery has chosen to base thair sale in the commercial circuit, which means that they prioritize the commercial aspect of art. The problem whit this approach is the perception of the buyers. It’s difficult for the potential buyers to know if Pushwanger is directly involved in the process or not. Some people may think those pictures by Pushwanger has a high status and recognition, but eventually finds out it belongs in the junk market and therefore has less value than first assumed. A worst-case scenario would be a potential misunderstanding where the potential buyers perceive these pictures as something more valuable than it is. To make the potential buyers more aware Vault Gallery could inform those who are interested in Pushwangners work beforehand so it doesn’t lead to any misunderstandings.
I can also understand the chairman Vagsnes and Vault galleries perception on the case. They have their rights to sell the pictures without mention or include Pushwanger in the process. As Vagsnes mention in the article, both Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat neither sign any of their work, it’s therefor difficult to forbid Vault galleries right to do the same.
Sources:
https://www.ba.no/pulsen/kunst/bergen/solgt-for-seks-millioner/s/5-8-967592 (03.09/2019) Written by Gorseth Olav
Making sense of art and design industries 