The Chapman Brothers, together with the Amsterdam-based Galerie Gabriel Rolt, which started representing the artists on February 17, have launched their aptly named pop-up store, Fucking Hell, on February 26, in the heart of the Red Light District.
Amsterdam’s Red Light District is, as the city’s official website mildly puts it, “unlike any other place.” Every night, hordes of tourists—mostly intoxicated and often not accustomed to the concept of legal prostitution—gawk at the offerings in the windows along the city’s canals.
Known for its tourist traps and pickpockets, in addition to the explicit services offered, for some this is an area best avoided. But not for Jake and Dinos Chapman. Quite the contrary—all of this and more makes the Red Light District the most suitable location one could think of for a new endeavor by the YBA siblings, whose art obsessively charts the grotesque, peppered with black humor and unsubtle critique.
The goods on offer are geared towards customers unafraid of making rash decisions. Devoted fans can get an original Jake Chapman drawing tattooed on their skin, but there’s a catch: the drawing is created on the spot by the artist himself. Other items are likely to be more benign and include merchandise also available on the Chapman Brothers’ online shop.
The brothers launched the e-commerce site this past December, hoping to reach a wide audience who might not usually be in the habit of buying art. Products start at the undeniably democratic price of £2.50 for small unique works (which sell out immediately) to £1,000 for an unframed artist proof.
Likewise, the Amsterdam store, which also houses a barber shop and a gallery, is selling t-shirts, skateboards, lighters, skeleton-patterned toilet paper, autographed books, posters, and small, original works for “a reasonable price.”
Fucking Hell is located inside the Project Space Pacific Place at Geldersekade 28, Amsterdam and will run for an unspecified period of time.