Palimpsest (Believe in me)

    How do we value art? As collectors, societies, consumers, students, and even as the creators ourselves, how is it that we translate what value we find in works of art into exchange terms?

   Working in the fields of fine art exhibition, sales, and handling for many years has kept me perpetually questioning this issue.

   In the fine art market, Salvador Dali is notorious for having signed editions of unprinted paper that went to contracted publishers. These individuals, along with Dali’s own staff, often used these sheets in fraudulent ways. This process was aided by the distant working relationship with the artist that developed out of an over commodification of fine art during Dali’s lifetime. The range of dishonesty is dependent on what one would consider an original work or reproduction by an artist. Some experts estimate that in today’s art market the vast majority of the prints attributed to and purportedly (or even actually) signed by Dali, are fakes.

   Another related issue has been resonating with me for years. In 1996 I worked for the California Sate University Summer Arts program at Humboldt State University. At that time I met the artist Todd Murphy who had begun making sculptures using African artifacts as raw materials. Many of the students at the program had very negative reactions to him utilizing these objects, seeing it as sacrilegious in a sense. While I did not share this perspective, I have given the issue a lot of thought since then.

   Palimpsest is derived from three primary concepts: the determination of originality issue, the perspective of art as sacrosanct, and the tendency of some artists to evaluate themselves and their art by how much money they can make from it.

   Palimpsest’s title invites one to work with the artists on a pre-approved collaboration. Its signature and low price offer a rock-bottom investment opportunity for those who feel the artist's work has upward potential. Finally, the sheets can be seen simply as raw materials for artists to use, with the only hurdle being the moral issue of weather one has the right to exploit another persons artwork as the raw materials for their own creation.

    The individual sheets are available on a sliding scale that will act as a gage of the public’s perception of the art/artist's value. The sliding scale starts at 75% of local market price and goes up at the purchaser’s discretion. Framed versions are available on the same basis of valuation.

Palimpsest (Believe in Me) (Arches cover), 2007
Arches cover rag, frame, graphite.