Pushing boundaries
The Art Law Blog and Merlion at the Sculpture Community have picked up on the New York Times article about Richard Prince’s latest show. I’m intellectually intrigued by the definitions of authorship and creativity that Prince’s work challenges… but am extremely concerned by his email to the Times which indicated he “never associated advertisements with having an author“. Creative reuse of artwork (aka appropriated art) is a longstanding tradition, and it seems a statement like that from a high-profile artist has potential of harming the legitimacy of the practise.
Tags: appropriation, art, richard prince, slippery slopes
Hi Julianna,
The New York Times article is very interesting. I have been grappling with how authors of original pieces that are creatively re-used should be acknowledged. This is a great example of where a corporation has commissioned some work (Marlboro) to create an indentity and the work is now being critically “reused” to make an artistic statement. The questions that come to mind are: Should the author of the original have the option of exerting his moral right of paternity?; In addition, should the copyright holder (which in this case, may be Marlboro) be compensated in some reasonable way for the exhibition, resale, and reproduction of its images?
Thanks,
Kristian.