Lot 455
  • 455

Dan Colen

Estimate
400,000 - 600,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Dan Colen
  • Nostalgia Ain't What It Used To Be (The Writing on the Wall)
  • oil, acrylic, papier-mâché, coins, gum, styrofoam and polyfoam on MDF base, with burkhas
  • 100 1/4 by 46 1/2 by 46 1/2 in. 254 by 118 by 118 cm.
  • Executed in 2006.

Provenance

Peres Projects, Berlin
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2006

Exhibited

New York, New Museum of Contemporary Art, Skin Fruit: Selections from the Dakis Joannou Collection, March - June 2010, p. 44 (illustrated in color)

Literature

Karen Marta, Ed., Skin Fruit: A View of a Collection Curated by Jeff Koons, Athens 2010, pp. 27, 34 and 38 (illustrated in color)

Condition

This work is in excellent and sound condition overall. All of the elements are present and stable. A penny has detached from an area of red gum, approximately 2-feet above the red graffiti.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

A totemic monument of downtown decay, Dan Colen’s Nostalgia Ain't What It Used To Be (The Writing on the Wall) conjures magic out of Colen’s signature vernacular of high-art detritus. From papier-mâché finished to resemble the rough exterior of a graffiti tagged boulder, Colen suffuses the subcultural banality of everyday urban deterioration with a mystical aura. The present work is one of only seven boulder sculptures that Colen has executed, examples of which are held in the collections of the Whitney Museum in New York and the Astrup Fearnley Museet in Oslo.