Press Release: Brand Art Sensation
A solo exhibition and public forum parodying celebrity art and luxury branding by Giulia Zaniol
9th - 13th June 2015
Private View
8th of June 6.30 - 8.30pm
The show, taking place at Gallery Different, Fitzrovia calls into question three of Britain’s most influential art personalities, Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin and how they have blurred the lines between luxury labels and fine art.
Zaniol has developed a brand name for each one - Diamonds & Heist, Eminent and Miss Clair and created special fragrances and sculptures of perfume bottles that reflect her interpretation of each artist’s ‘brand essence’. The parody follows celebrity brand endorsement and upmarket retail models. Luxury brands associate themselves with the A-list to appear exclusive; similarly these artists use their celebrity status to enhance their artworks’ allure. Most of the profit made by upmarket brands comes from the sale of accessories and perfumes, which are the few affordable goods available to the masses. Zaniol theorises the transformation of high art and artists entrepreneurship into luxury ventures exaggerating the commerciality of contemporary art with her fragrances.
The launch of Brand Art Sensation will be supported by a series of billboards, shown both as part of the exhibition and across the streets of London. These ”ads”, along with a social media strategy and spoof video adverts, will ask the public to join a debate at www.zaniol.com/mass-debate, discussing luxury art and the emergence of the celebrity-seeking ‘artist-entrepreneur’.
Zaniol comments; “I was struck by the evident similarities and intertwining nature of artist celebrity ‘labels’ belonging to the high art market and luxury fashion brands. I have been acting as an artist entrepreneur myself for this project, and we [artists] have now more opportunities than ever, but I am concerned about the Neo-capitalist approach and its soulless commodity investment market and how it is effecting the art world: not everything about it is good. Therefore I wanted to open a debate on these very complex aspects and hear what the public has to say.”
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONS:
Billboard: Does being a celebrity add to the value of an artist’s work?
18th - 31st of May Location: 186 Hackney Road / Hassard Street, E2 7QL
Billboard: Are artworks and luxury goods of equal value to society?
1st – 14th of June - 469 Bethnal Green Rd / Hollybush Gardens, E2 9QH
Gallery Different, 14 Percy Street, London W1T 1DR
Opening Hours: 11am - 6pm, 9th - 13th June 2015
For more information please contact giulia@zaniol.com
Press Preview 8th of June 5.30 - 6.30pm
Artist exhibition tour 13th of June 4 - 5.30pm
NOTES TO THE EDITORS:
Giulia Zaniol is a Venetian artist and former advertising art director. She is a past winner of Clifford Chance Purchase Prize and a member of the Royal Society of Printmaker-Painters. Her etchings are in the collections of the V&A and Ashmolean Museum. Brand Art Sensation merges, for the first time, three key areas of Zaniol’s expertise: fine art, advertising and the glass making tradition rooted in her family.
The title, Brand Art Sensation, refers to the controversial and game-changing exhibition organised by Saatchi in 1997. This has often been regarded as the actual birth of “art for the market”and therefore seemed to be a relevant reference to contextualise this project.
Brand Art Sensation has been a journey of research and collaborations for Zaniol: The Luxury Research Group published by Bloomsbury is supporting this project with a series of essays that will appear on her site in April and May. The Group has invited Zaniol to participate to their May Symposium to present Brand Art Sensation to their international audience.
Max Jacquard, a pluri-awarded international glass sculpture maker, Lee Mullholland from Southampton University Scientific Glassblowing Workshop and Veronica Hendry have all helped to bring to life Zaniol’s ideas and concepts for the perfume bottles and fragrances.
Special thanks also go to Andrew Allan, Francesca Fiumano, Jock Kennedy, Claire Fry, Joaquim Barreto, Jenny Morrell, Roberto Aguilar, Dave Clark, Adrian Bartlett, Mark Anderson, Rhys Taylor, Alfredo Marcantonio, Tia Juliet Meddins, Giada Combusti and Duncan Robinson who have all supported and contributed to Brand Art Sensation.
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