Art Fairs
The Most Hilarious Work in Art Basel Is by Rob Pruitt, and You Can See It Here
Who knew art world celebrity lookalikes could be so incredibly spot on... and so wickedly funny?
Andrew Goldstein
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The artist Rob Pruitt is a pretty funny guy on most days, but he’s really outdone himself at Art Basel Unlimited this year: he’s filled a gallery top to bottom with pictures of the art world’s most powerful players… and their too-perfect celebrity lookalikes.
Started as a project on the artist’s Instagram and now gathered in a book, the series—titled Rob Pruitt’s Official Art World/Celebrity Look-Alikes—has wicked fun at the expense of everyone up and down the food chain. It also comes with some gallery history: a decade ago, Pruitt’s dealer, Gavin Brown, dabbled in the art-celebrity arena by displaying a wall-to-wall show of art-world photographer Patrick McMullan’s society snaps at the now-defunct Passerby. (Brown also shared a booth at Frieze New York a few years back with his own celebrity doppelgänger, Mark Ruffalo, who incidentally contributes a text to Pruitt’s new book.)
The work was purchased on the fair’s first VIP preview day for an undisclosed price by the art advisor Lisa Schiff on behalf of a client. In the short term, Schiff says, the plan is to display a selection of 20 of the diptychs in the collector’s dining room, offering plenty of fodder for conversation and chuckles over dinner. In the long term, “we will try to lend it—we will loan this whenever, wherever,” she says. Schiff calls the work “genius on every level,” encoded with references to Andy Warhol, the art world’s self-obsession, and even facial recognition software (though the pairings were in fact done by Pruitt and his studio staff the old-fashioned way, by pinning images on the wall).
In any case, enough preamble! Here, for your viewing enjoyment, is a generous assortment of pairings from the fair.
Artist Alex Katz and Krusty Krab proprietor Squidward Tentacles
Art collector François Pinault and US Attorney General Jeff Sessions
Artist Rirkrit Tiravanija and singer Rodriguez
Artist Yayoi Kusama and Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element
The Fondation Beyeler’s Sam Keller and Mike Myers as Dr. Evil
Artist Bjarne Melgaard and the Thing from the Fantastic Four
Artist Mark Bradford and actor RuPaul
Artist Ryan Trecartin and Jimmy Neutron
Art dealer Carol Greene and singer Celine Dion
Artists Space director Jay Sanders and American Pie‘s Jason Biggs
Art scion Harry Brant and actress Winona Ryder
Curator Okwui Enwezor and singer Usher
Art dealer Larry Gagosian and actor Bob Einstein
Artist Darren Bader and old Bob Dylan
Artist Marina Abramovic and a brick wall
Art collector Aby Rosen and Louis XVI
Art dealer Massimo De Carlo and Snapchat sensation DJ Khaled
Artist Dan Colen and actor Harrison Ford
Artist Latoya Ruby Fraser and singer Toni Braxton
MoMA curator Laura Hoptmann and “Girls” creator Lena Dunham
Art dealer Gavin Brown and actor and anti-fracking activist Mark Ruffalo
Art dealer Paula Cooper and actress Marisa Tomei
Artist Jasper Johns and actor Christopher Plummer
Artist Ai Weiwei and actor Craig Phillip Robinson
Artist Robert Longo and actor Dustin Hoffman
Artist Tauba Auerbach and The Shining actress Shelly Duvall
Curator Tom Eccles and Andrew Jackson
Curator Pati Hertling and A Clockwork Orange‘s Malcolm McDowell
Art Basel director Marc Spiegler and notorious tunnel-loving narco kingpin El Chapo
Artist Urs Fischer and artist Michael Madsen
Protocinema founder Mari Spirito and actress Annette Bening
Damien Hirst and Bruce the shark from Finding Nemo
Unlimited curator Gianni Jetzer and actor Colin Farrell
Artist Thomas Demand and comedian Louis C.K.
Art dealer Emmanuel Perrotin and crooner Serge Gainsbourg
Collector Bernard Arnault and former President George W. Bush
Artist Richard Serra and actor Marlon Brando in the role of Colonel Kurtz
Artist Rachel Rose and actress Chloe Sevigny
Art dealer Tony Shafrazi and Beethoven
Artist John Baldessari and Papa Smurf
Artist Rob Pruitt and Bill Hader as “Saturday Night Live”‘s Stefon
Note: This story was updated on June 14 with details on the work’s acquisition.
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