A woman attending Art Wynwood, a contemporary art fair in Miami, accidentally broke a $42,000 sculpture by Jeff Koons at Thursday night’s VIP preview.
It was on display at Bel-Air Fine Art’s booth and Stephen Gamson, a Wynwood-based artist and art collector said,
When this thing fell to the ground, it was like how a car accident draws a huge crowd on the highway.”
Gamson said he saw the sculpture break and recorded video of the aftermath. A large crowd gathered around the broken pieces with many people wondering if it was a performance art piece or art fair stunt.
Nope. Just an ol’-fashioned dumb accident.
Gamson said as soon as he pointed out the sculpture to his friend, he saw an older woman tap the sculpture knocking it off the pedestal. Gamson said he assumes that the woman –believe it or not, a collector– tapped it because she was wanted to see if it was a real balloon.
It was not.
The gallery said the woman was not responsible. The artwork was covered by insurance.
Let this be a lesson, kids (and grown-ups)…
DO NOT TOUCH THE ART!
Btw, I have the perfect *replacement if this ever happens to you… I bought mine on Amazon –50 bucks. (*Bonus: It’s plastic!)
(Photos, Stephen Gamson; via Miami Herald)
