Art Girl Fax No. 286 Subscribers

By TheArtGorgeous, 03.09.2021

Hello, Gorgeous!

The Art News You Missed While Wishing You Were Zendaya

The superstar actress, singer, and model went Instagram-official with bf Tom Holland on her 25th birthday this week. Goals. Big Goals. Also in the news, Britney Spears is facing no charges over reportedly injuring an employee, following a lack of evidence and Jabari Banks has been announced to be taking over the role as the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the NBC reboot. We’re here, as always, to keep you up to date with what’s going on in the world of art, fashion, and NFTs.We’re sending huge love to our NYC and New Jersey members and readers in the face of the recent floods. Stay safe. We’re also sending solidarity and outrage to everyone in Texas facing oppressive new abortion bans. Hugs and stay sane,The Girls

ART

1. Drake x Damien Hirst

Combining two of his most famous images – a pregnant anatomical model and colourful spot paintings – Damien Hirst has created an album cover for Drake’s newest album that has split opinion. ‘Certified Lover Boy’ features 12 pregnant woman emojis in different coloured tops to recreate Hirst’s dots. It’s been called lazy, distasteful, and genius. What do you think? 

2. Tate Gaugin Deemed a Fake

An unfinished ‘Gaugin’ called ‘Tahitians’ that has been owned by the Tate since 1917 has been deemed a fake by the Wildenstein Plattner Institute. The work has been excluded from the authoritative catalogue of the artist’s work which has been recently published in NYC. The reason for the downgrading hasn’t been revealed.

FASHION

3. Beyoncé, Basquiat, and That Diamond

A new advertising campaign for Tiffany & Co. has come under fire for various different reasons. Queen Bee wears the famous Tiffany diamond, which is a 128-carat yellow diamond known as a “blood diamond” because of the unethical nature of its mining. ‘Equals Pi’ – a rarely seen Basquiat painting – stands in the background of the ‘About Love’ advert. One of Basquiat’s former assistants was outraged that Tiffany & Co suggested that the artist had been inspired by Tiffany’s signature blue when painting the work. 

4. Shein Launches TV Show

Fast Fashion brand of the moment – Shein – has launched its reality show ‘Shein x 100k Challenges’ on its app and on YouTube. The show follows 30 fashion designers in their bid to win $100,000 and work with Shein on a fashion week collection. Shein has come under fire for their contribution to the climate crisis, unsustainable consumption, and unethical labour, so many aren’t sure what to make of this new venture. 

MARKET

5. Pranksy Got Pranked

This week an NFT was minted on OpenSea which was linked to Banksy’s website, suggesting that the street art legend had entered the NFT arena. A collector named Pranksy quickly bid 100 ETH (over $330,000), despite the piece not looking like a Banksy, and there being no rumours that Banksy was ever going to drop NFTs let alone without a big fanfair. The link to Banksy’s site was quickly removed which led to accusations of a prank having happened. On the 1st of September Pranksy accounced that his 100 ETH had been returned to him by the hacker. 

6. 12-Year-Old Makes £290,000 in NFT Whales

Benyamin Ahmed’s collection ‘Weird Whales’ made nearly $300,000 during his school summer holidays. The set of 3350 pixelated whales were sold on OpenSea. Benyamin and his brother Yousef have been coding since they were five years old!