Defying norms ~ Steve Keene is likely to have sold more paintings then anyone else on earth (300,000). . his prices on the secondary market seems to have jumped up noticeably.
Junk,but being a freak internet curiosity,could very well appreciate in value.This inflated value will prob not outlast Vermeer or Titian,but like penny stocks,could make you a few bucks in the here and now.
I was going to say that unless his only motivation is money, then he should be ashamed. Then I thought - what other motivation could he possibly have to crank out this crap?
Definitely not doing it for the money - for decades he sold them for $5. to $25. each and even today he sells them for like $30. The buyer demand and the book someone wrote about his paintings has driven prices up. Doing pretty much what painter Howard Finster did. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Keene
Keith Haring was better ? Or those loathsome Florida Highway men ? The Emperor has no clothes I tells ya !
Warhol had like 10k art pieces and I don't even know how many thousands of prints, plus others pulling prints for him. And he did art of established images. Art is subjective and the fine art market is now an investment bubble. Who can know for sure. We don't have to like a style of art but there's no reason someone can't make a living off their interests if others want to buy it. I see art I don't like and think "I hate that...but good for them. Get that money."
Must say, I do like the album covers he did for Apples in Stereo and Pavement. Interestingly, he has an MFA from Yale, but seems to have been driven and is very comfortable in the 'Outsider' art world.
After 3 months, a contemplative defense of Keene, or for that matter anyone else who's supported himself painting 8 hrs. a day, six days a week for over 30 years. I was a little surprised by some of the initial comments . . on an art page no less - 'worthless', 'junk', ' needs a job', 'ashamed, etc. The take away is art is indeed subjective - there are many artists, who's work I do not get at all in any way, or even hate the work, but I refrain. In person, Steve is very genuine and honest about what he does, and possibly most important, nice to engage with. .
I’m with you Drew. Steve Keene is an absolute must for all of us who collect lowbrow. He’s a perfect combo of OCD, post Pop, Outsider etc. No apologies here, and how many of the naysayers have had a show at The Santa Monica Museum of Art (granted a small institution but still-good enough for a Beatrice Wood retrospective too…)numerous galleries etc.? I don’t know about you guys but I was hanging out in the downtown NY clubs when Haring, Basquiat, Scharf, etc. were still tagging trains but starting to get recognition. Stupidly my husband sold the Haring way too early. I remember all too well how everyone was dissing them back in the day. Keene is obsessed. You can hate him (and all lowbrow) that’s fine but give the guy his due. Funny story, another one is Shag…commercial to the hilt. We owned a large painting. Still have a small one. Submitted it to a respected auction house in the early 2000s and got a “don’t ever waste our time with crap like this”. A few years later walked into said house and saw a half dozen on display for an upcoming auction. Since I personally know the auctioneer, I called them on it and their POS response was “Too early is as bad as too late”…gimme a break. BTW Our Finster is a prized procession. We were actually supposed to be married by him in 1980-arranged by his dealer-the legendary Phyllis Kind. Got sidetracked and never made it to Georgia but still have our small sculpture. Here’s the two SK paintings we still have…
Stupidly my husband sold the Haring way too early. vs response was “Too early is as bad as too late”… Hummmm..... while the auction house need not have been rude to you.......... they are an auction house and not an arbiter of taste.....only timing..!
Stupidly because he went against me but given that we were married I’ll own the right to make that call. On the other hand, the auctioneer should have just said not interested. The condescension was off the wall given their complete turnaround when they realized the artist was a money maker. They really read me the riot act at the time.
BTW I respectfully disagree that auction houses are not arbiters of taste. Some absolutely think they are and this one is one of them.
Well said Reader. It's all so interesting . . . what art means and why we have emotion when in it's presence. It's about escaping without running away from home. . . realist, abstract, expressionist, ect. I found a SK 25 years ago, a painting of the 1st Black Sabbath album - it immediately took me back to my youth ... just stared at it, then bought it. Just found this interesting pair ~
