Andres Serrano

Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Galerie Saqqarah, Gstaad
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Framed under Plexiglas, this work is in overall good condition. There are no signs of soiling.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Piss Discus by Andres Serrano opens this photo section. This work is part of the Immersion series in which the American artist shows the submersion of classical statuettes into various fluids (milk, blood and urine). From this corpus is also the Piss Christ, which has caused a scandal every time it has been exhibited since its creation in 1987. Without the title, the viewer would in fact not know the exact composition of the liquid and yet, despite the repulsive aspect of it, the artist has created a very artistic image of this famous Discobole by Miron, as if encircled with a halo. The atmosphere is very peaceful and beautiful. Serrano’s signature, who, in all his series, has played on that attraction/repulsion concept, embellishing what we usually don't want to look at.
Very similar in that way is the Vik Muniz work Narcissus after Caravaggio, from the Picture of Garbage series. As always, working on the appropriation concept, he reworks the Caravaggio painting by composing the picture with trash and recyclables collected from a 321-acre open-air dump just outside Rio de Janeiro. Ironically, the image which illustrates the vanity and egocentric behavior which leads Narcissus to his death is made with what the society rejects. The real subject of the work though is not the painting by Caravaggio but the catadores or garbage –pickers who make a living out of it. This whole series got filmed by Lucy Walker for the documentary Wasteland which received an Award in the Sundance Festival in 2010.
Analyzing the modern society but from a different angle is David LaChapelle’s Wonderbread, from the Inflatable series. The fashion model runs away from consumerism incarnated by this grotesque balloon figure wearing the colours of the well-known American brand. LaChapelle’s style is very recognizable, his images being always glossy, kitsch and humoristic in a post-pop way.
From the society to the city, Andreas Gursky, in Singapore II, pointed his camera at the upper part of the inside of the building to centre on the ornamentation hanging from the ceiling. The artist is well-known for successfully capturing in rich and detailed photos the structures and forms of organization of the capitalist societies. Travelling around the world in the 1990s, from Cairo, New York, Brasília, Tokyo, Stockholm, Chicago, Athens, Singapore, Paris, and Los Angeles among others, he has illustrated a world which is big, high-tech, expensive, and global. Within it, the anonymous individual is but one among many.
In the London Pictures series, Gilbert & George depict the contemporary urban life in all its absurdity and routine violence. Also well-known for their artistic performances which launched their career, they introduce the last part of this photo section. Ma Liuming met Gilbert & George in 1994 when they came to Beijing for an exhibition of their works. This encounter had a great impact on Ma Liuming’s career and convinced him that he was going into the right direction. Performances became his trademark in which nudity plays a capital role as we can see in Fen-Ma Liuming walks the Great Wall. This work is an attempt to express the artistic freedom of the artist.
Wife-and-husband Lin Tianmiao and Wang Gongxin combine their two divergent practices of fabric-based installation and video art to create a collaborative project playing with the codes of reality and fiction. The result is titled Here? or There? (2002). The piece is comprised of a collection of sculptural dresses by Lin, and films and photos by Wang featuring models performing in front of destroyed and abandoned Chinese landscapes.
Yang Yongliang's iconic Phantom Landscape series evokes similar concerns on China's rapid urbanization and its consequences. Using photographic images as building blocks, Yang recomposes the classic Chinese landscape painting. The result is a serene Song Dynasty landsape when looked from afar, and a haunting depiction of over-crowded Chinese cities when looked upon closely.