Let's Keep it Clean

For those that may be unaware, today is not only Father's Day, but it is the first ever International Day of Yoga. To mark the day we reminisce about another strange yogic event:

Our tale begins a touch over a month ago, when there was a strange happening on the streets of NY ...

Instagram photos from: @lizny3 and @grantgoldman3

Moving to the Upper East Side, was a certain yogi ... the Marc Quinn sculpture - the aptly titled 'Myth (Fortuna)' was coming to auction at Sotheby's at York Ave. & 71st St. in mid-May.

Lot 544 of Sotheby's Contemporary Art auction

Now, if the photos don't give you a sense of scale, let us specify the dimensions of the myth that is kate: Myth (Fortuna) is approximately 108 by 101 by 98 inches or for those more used to the metric system that would be 274.3 x 256.6 x 249 cms. So roughly 8.25 feet or call it 2.5 meters high, wide and long!!! This is not a small kate ...

From the Sotheby's catalogue:

"Myth (Fortuna) is an exquisite example of artist Marc Quinn’s renowned series of sculptures sculpted after supermodel Kate Moss. These reincarnations of Moss are a tribute to both the celebrity herself as well as the female body – a fixation among artists since the dawn of time. In the present work, Kate’s body is configured into an alarming back-bending yoga pose where her legs are hyper-extended backwards over her shoulders. This contortion places the subject into a fascinating realm where Kate’s body is both grotesque yet mythical at the same time."

Quinn's sculpture,  cast in bronze and painted over with a smooth layer of white paint, was created in 2007 and is incised with the artist's signature, title, date (2007) and edition (number 1 of 3). It was acquired by Sotheby's directly from the artist in 2008.

And Sotheby's estimate for Lot 544 of the 2015 Contemporary Art auction? A cool $800,000 to $1,200,000 for you to house Myth in your living room or back garden ... P.S. don't forget to add your buyer's premium, applicable taxes and shipping.

Now, our man in Havana told us that upon arrival the Sotheby's staff realized the piece was not going to be able to make its way into the showroom to be housed, due to its size. As such, it was determined that kate, her flexibility and her crotch would peer across York Ave. to all passers by. While this led to some distracted drivers and a few overly excited mutts - who would have tried to lift their legs to pee on kate, if it weren't for the around-the-clock security guard - there was another issue that came to light in the lead up to the auction ... the need to be cleaned due to NY dirt, dust and grime.

While ishotkatemoss was not present to witness the happenings, given our new-found instagram presence we managed to be made aware of not only kate's move to Sotheby's but also her primping and preening via other social-media users. Therefore, just before the May 13th auction, a well decked-out gentleman proceeded to take on the dirty job: 

Instagram photos from: @100fredrik, @zacknach, @ed.butler, @cassius_jae, @laurenareich, @marierousseaunyu, @maisonangelic,  and @maugalvan

In honor of all of these cleaning efforts, we posted 6 weeks ago - on Mother's Day - the following picture, that was so ably captured by @rlowkes with our caption: 

It's Mother's Day people ... let's keep it clean

So, a belated happy Mother's Day to all mothers! And of course: Happy Father's Day today to all of the fathers! A happy International Day of Yoga to all of the yogis! Plus happy cleaning to all of the cleaners, window washers, housekeepers and chimney sweeps - we are incredibly thankful for all of your hard work ... particularly when you have to scrub in those hard to reach, nooks and crannys. 

Oh, and a happy auction bidding to all of the wealthy art buyers out there ...

 

Epilogue: the sculpture was a pass with no-one choosing to purchase Quinn's kate from Sotheby's. It seems as though one million USD - like kate's sculptural crotch - is a touch high, although we may have another chance when kate and her appendages swings around again.

We were disappointed when learning about the lack of sale as interviewing the buyer would have been fascinating ... If it was possible to add in a frowny-faced yogi contorted emoji right here, iskm would! Instead we will leave you with this deep and important final instagram reflection from @kaitlinkaitlinkaitlinkaitlin:

Observe. Slown Down. Shoot. Submit.

www.ishotkatemoss.com