Exactly how much does Kanye West’s Famous sculpture cost? According to Tim Blum, the gallerist who hosted a private viewing of the musician’s installation at his gallery in Los Angeles, the whole thing would set you back somewhere around $4 million.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, which first had the story, Blum said that the piece was on the market “for the right buyer,” adding about the $4 million price tag: “I would project a figure about that.”
The arrangement takes its visual cue from painter Vincent Desiderio’s 2008 canvas Sleep, which features seven men and five women lying together in bed. In their stead are hyper-realistic silicone models of George W. Bush, Taylor Swift, and nine other household names in popular American culture, assembled by over 30 fabricators.
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 26: Kim Kardashian attends Famous by Kanye West a private exhibition event at Blum And Poe, Los Angelesat Blum & Poe on August 26, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Kanye West.
Beyond the concept, it’s worth considering how much of West’s hand was actually involved in the ordeal, and if that even matters considering today’s art world. “Art is really just an idea,” LA artist Aaron Axelrod told the Times. “What makes a great artist nowadays is being able to put together a team.”
In this manner, West’s approach follows a long line of market stars who have been known to employ dozens of local studio assistance, or even outsource their work to another country. Jeff Koons, for instance, runs an entire factory of employees dedicated to perfection, and Kehinde Wiley is openly known for using painters in China to create the backgrounds of his paintings,