Last December when NAS released his ‘Hip Hop is Dead’ album I wanted to blog about it. But at the time I didn’t really have any other cultural location to point to, and I didn’t want to do a review.
I wanted to say that it’s one of the best albums in recent years that is well-produced and attempts to critically examine contemporary shifts in hip-hop culture and the industry-mechanism it has become. A little nostalgic at times but more moments than not where one was invigorated with the message. Then at one point he makes an analysis of bling culture but recognizes that as with most cultural paradigms, someone else is still in control:
How they sell blacks to bootleg shit infact
Real millionaires spend 60 mil on paintings
(from ‘Not Going Back’ featuring Kelis)
Ah! Contemporary Art I thought! Sure 60 mil happens here and there, but how often does that really happen I wondered. How bloated is our art economy? Several months later, that is, May 2007, I would find my answer. The auctions that I recently briefly commented on would set new records for contemporary art and combine for a near-$1billion total, at $870,609,080, between 1,510 lots of work, or $660,000 per lot, about as much money as I’ll probably make in the next 20-30 years of my life, nevermind living expenses (you know, shelter, food, transport… food).
see below
| Sale Totals | |
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| Sotheby’s, 15 -16 May Contemporary Art Evening: |
$ 254,874,000 |
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| Contemporary Art Day: | $ 89,698,000 |
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| Total: | $ 344,572,000 |
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| Christie’s, 16 – 17 May Contemporary Art Evening: |
$ 384,654,400 |
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| Contemporary Art Day: | $ 93,097,200 |
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| Total: | $ 477,751,600 |
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| Phillips de Pury, 17 -18 May Contemporary Art Part I: |
$ 33,326,400 |
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| Contemporary Art Part II: | $ 14,959,080 |
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| Total: | $ 48,285,480 |
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| Grand Total | $ 870,609,080 |
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| Average Sold Lot Value (Sotheby’s, Christie’s & Phillips de Pury) |
$ 660,553 |
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| Number of Lots Offered/Sold (Sotheby’s, Christie’s & Phillips de Pury) |
1510/1318 (87% sold) |
fueled by:
| Top Ten Lots Contemporary Art |
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| Mark Rothko, White Center (Yellow, Pink, and Lavender on Rose) | $ 72,840,000 |
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| Andy Warhol, Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) | $ 71,720,000 |
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| Francis Bacon, Study after Pope Innocent X | $ 52,680,000 |
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| Andy Warhol, Lemon Marilyn | $ 28,040,000 |
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| Mark Rothko, Untitled | $ 26,920,000 |
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| Mark Rothko, Untitled | $ 22,440,000 |
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| Willem de Kooning, Untitled I | $ 19,080,000 |
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| Jasper Johns, Figure 4 | $ 17,400,000 |
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| Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled | $ 14,600,000 |
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| Robert Rauschenberg, Photograph | $ 10,680,000 |
Do you reckon Nas reads ArtReview‘s annual top 100 issue?
[Via Art News Blog]
Related websites:
listen to Nas mp3
Nas ‘Not Going Back’ lyrics