ArtWeLove News

Hurricane Sandy Benefit Edition

2012-11-11T18:47:19Z

Governor Cuomo observed this week, “We have a 100-year flood every two years now." Hurricane Sandy has made the relationship between the natural and built environment painfully clear, it is critical that we build for the future with this knowledge in mind. -- Molly Dilworth

As you all know, Superstorm Sandy has left a terrible path of destruction on the East Coast of the United States as well as Haiti and Cuba. As a company made in New York, our team and many of our artists are in recovery mode, many of them still without power, and for some, having lost their workspace and most of their art.

We want to do our bit to help rebuild our great city and support everyone affected by the storm, in New York but also beyond. The great Brooklyn-based artist Molly Dilworth has pitched in one of her ArtWeLove editions, Times Square Pour.

Especially for this benefit, we've created a 16 x 20 inches version of this popular print and effective immediately all sales of all sizes of Times Square Pour will all go to benefit the American Red Cross's Sandy relief efforts.

Times Square Pour is a particularly relevant choice. Molly is a land artist who has always been concerned with the environment and we've worked together before to create benefit editions for the Global Earth Project with 350.org.

Times Square Pour is based on her site- specific installation "Cool Water, Hot Island" in New York's Times Square and the winning proposal for the 2010 reNEWable Times Square Design Competition. This edition is a representation of NASA's infrared satellite data of Manhattan. When painted on the streets of Times Square, the artwork's color and movement suggest rivers and natural forms, juxtaposing against their built surroundings and alluding to the early days of New York City. Superstorm Sandy came in last week as a powerful reminder of New York's complex relation between the built environment and the natural.

We chose to donate to the Red Cross, an apolitical and trusted organization that provides shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance to those affected by disasters like Hurricane Sandy, as well as countless crises at home and around the world.

You can also donate directly to Red Cross.

Thanks for helping support the effort to recover.

Wet safari | 10.05.10 by Stefan Hengst

2012-10-14T14:52:15Z

Greetings from rainy New York,

With Fall season definitely upon us, we welcome our 10th exclusive edition with Dutch-born, New York-based photographer Stefan Hengst.

Wet safari | 10.05.10 captures yet another moment in our beloved New York City, a playful tip of the hat to subway riders and their unique NY style.

Taken using his iPhone, Hengst captures his life, one daily picture at a time. This edition is one image of nearly 1200 photographs in a year long project Stefan calls My Daily Poetry Fix. The numbers, following the title, mark the date on which he took this image.

ABOUT STEFAN HENGST

Stefan Hengst graduated with a B.F.A. from the College of Fine Arts & Design, St. Joost, in the Netherlands. His work has been recognized by well-known publications and institutions such as I.D. magazine, Graphis, Eye (The International Review of Graphic Design), and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. His photography has been exhibited at Collegno Gallery (New York), Future 86 art event (Catskills, NY), Bienale 2009 in Ecuador and Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam).

Walking the High Line with Stefan Hengst

2012-09-18T13:59:21Z

More to come | 04.08.10 by Stefan Hengst

Greetings from the High Line,

We're thrilled to release a new exclusive edition by Stefan Hengst titled More to come | 04.08.10. Taken by Stefan in the summer of 2010, a year after the first section of the High Line opened to the public, the shot focuses on what yet has to be built, the second section stretching all the way to the 30s.

Ironically titling his work "more to come," Stefan provides an opportunity for the viewer to decide whether more to come, i.e.: more of the high line, will actually be good or bad for New Yorkers.

When we worked on this edition with Stefan earlier this year, little did we know that the New York blogger Jeremiah Moss was about to write a controversial op-ed in the NY Times about the gentrification of the High Line. Going as far as dubbing the site "Disney World on the Hudson," Jeremiah's positions provoked heated reactions on social news sites like Reddit, much of the comments sadly attempting to simply shut down the writer's point of view.

Through their art work and their writing, both Stefan and Jeremiah point to the need for debate on the impact of the High Line on our shared experience of the city, and Kelly Chan from ArtInfo does a wonderful job summarizing what is really at stake here.

We invite you to consider, and more importantly, walk the High Line to judge for yourself.

A Very New York and Very Fashionable Editon by Stefan Hengst

2012-09-04T14:51:15Z

Greetings from the Capital of Fashion

As global fashionistas descend upon our beloved New York City to celebrate la mode du jour, we wanted to pay hommage to the inner sense of style of the everyday New Yorkers. This new edition by Stefan Hengst, titled Public beauty | 07.12.10, features a Brooklyn lady sitting at a bus stop. Call her style demode, I find her allure tres classe.

Public beauty | 07.12.10 is an edition by Stefan Hengst exclusively for ArtWeLove. Taken using his iPhone, Hengst captures his life, one daily picture at a time. This edition is one image of nearly 1200 photographs in a year long project Stefan calls My Daily Poetry Fix. The numbers, following the title, mark the date on which he took this image.

ABOUT STEFAN HENGST
Stefan Hengst graduated with a B.F.A. from the College of Fine Arts & Design, St. Joost, in the Netherlands. His work has been recognized by well-known publications and institutions such as I.D. magazine, Graphis, Eye (The International Review of Graphic Design), and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. His photography has been exhibited at Collegno Gallery (New York), Future 86 art event (Catskills, NY), Bienale 2009 in Ecuador and Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam).

End of Summer Sale: 15% off Most Editions through Sept 21st

2012-09-04T14:13:23Z

Summer is almost over. We have some perks to make you feel better about that:15% off on editions you'll love!

Greetings, fellow art lovers!

Summer is winding down. We're counting down the days until we can throw on an extra layer and trade in air conditioning for a crisp breeze.  

Meanwhile, end-of-summer sales are kicking into high gear everywhere, but especially here at ArtWeLove. So take advantage. Here are the details:

Through the 21st of September, you can purchase most* of our fine-art editions for 15% off list prices.

$15 editions are now $12.75!
 $50 editions are now $42.50!
 $100 editions are now $85! 
$300 editions are now $255!
 $675 editions are now $573.75!

Simply use the following promotional code during check-out: ART2LOVE

Start browsing today and enjoy the savings!

And, as always, happy collecting!

Godzilla mon amour, new limited edition by Seth Indigo Carnes

2012-08-27T22:30:34Z

Greetings, collectors!

We're back from our Summer hiatus with Godzilla, a brand new edition with Seth Indigo Carnes, following his remarkable debut ArtWeLove series, iheart variation 003.

Seth, who describes himself as “born in California, but made in NYC”, is a conceptual media artist. His thrilling body of work includes video, murals, photography, painting, and performance.

Despite numerous high-profile projects--including music videos for The Roots, Jimmy Fallon's house band--Seth has remained experimental in his approach and aesthetic.

He has also continued to invest in collaborations with artists as diverse as Paul D. Miller (also known as DJ Spooky), Shepard Fairey, Thierry Geoffroy, David Ellis, Polar, and Ali Hossaini.

Taking the idea of collaboration one step further--and adding unprecedented levels of playfulness and accessibility--Seth's debut ArtWeLove series, iheart variation 003, allowed viewers to interpret his work, alter... adapt... transform it. You can see the brilliiant results on display at the Roger Smith Hotel last year.

To add to your iheart collection, or perhaps to start it, we bring you Godzilla, featuring the series' signature brilliant black and white contrasts and symbolistic paradoxes. In this edition, a solid black pictogram of godzilla sits on a stark white background. This symbol in context to oneself, and the other symbols in the series, evokes history, emotions, and personal narratives.

Happy Collecting!

ArtWeLove team

Celestial Matters: Explore a Rare Collection of Art from Space (Literally)

2012-05-30T19:26:08Z

Dear ArtWeLove collectors,

We are incredibly honored to make some rare originals and editions from artworks created or brought onboard the International Space Station available for art collectors worldwide.

These pieces were shown in 2008 as part of the legendary game developer and entrepreneur, Dr. Richard Garriott de Cayeux's private mission in an exhibition believed to be the first and only one of its kind staged on the International Space Station.

These pioneering works have never been more relevant at a time when one of the first commercial ventures, SpaceX, is getting ready for the end of its historic first mission to the International Space Station, and artist Tom Sachs is gearing up for an imaginary manned expedition to Mars at the Park Avenue Armory.

A pioneer in more than one way, Richard (aka Lord British for the gamers) has trail-blazed private space tourism, and reinvented action painting in the process.

The famous artist Jackson Pollock created paintings by throwing paint at his canvas and letting gravity help. To create artworks unlike any that could be made on Earth, Richard built a paint box and allowed droplets of paint to float and stick to the paper inside the box. As the paint dried it formed spheres rather than falling flat onto the paper as in Earth gravity. Watch Richard describing his painting process aboard the International Space Station.

Only ten works will be available for purchase for a limited time only. Included in this online event are five limited editions from original works created in space by Richard and five original watercolor paintings from Helen Garriott brought onboard the International Space Station during Richard's journey as a private cosmonaut.

They will be available for purchase online through June 30th, exclusively at ArtWeLove.com. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Challenger Center.

Happy art collecting,

Laurence Lafforgue

Introducing Broken Syntax (Myths in Translation) by Margaret Lanzetta

2012-02-16T15:24:08Z

Nature as both inspiration and eclipser of culture is a persistent theme in my work.

-- Margaret Lanzetta

Broken Syntax (Myths in Translation)

Archival pigment print

14 x 11 inches
Edition of 250 ($50)

20 x 16 inches
Edition of 100 ($200)

30 x 24 inches
Edition of 10 ($1000)

Collect Now

Greetings, Collectors!

We're thrilled to introduce a second edition by our newest artist, Margarat Lanzettta titled Broken Syntax. Like Double Speak, Broken Syntax is part of the Myths in Translation series and it has been created exclusively for ArtWeLove collectors.

New York-based artist Margaret Lanzetta’s intricate paintings are characterized by contrasting elements inspired and adapted from her many travels. Natural botanical silhouettes, architectural forms, and saturated color act as cultural and historical references to India, Syria, Morocco, Italy, and the American West. With varying mediums from silkscreen, digital technology, oil paint, and enamel to acrylic, Margaret imprints her visual associations onto wooden or canvas surfaces by employing rubbing and stamping techniques referencing both mechanical reproduction and artistic traditions of the past. Paralleling Warhol’s forays into seriality, patterns migrate, collide, and reappear from painting to painting. Intense hues of color chosen for their spiritual significance or universal acknowledgement within the industrial world meld with geometric contours and single-motifs in a seemingly insistent repetition to create a new vocabulary. Inherent to Margaret’s practice, repetition is used as a pervasive theme to explore larger issues of language, spirituality, and cultural migration. As each of her multi-layered paintings is created to be one part of a collective series, the viewer is granted a concentrated and unique visual experience.

ABOUT MARGARET LANZETTA

Margaret Lanzetta studied at Tyler School of Art (Italy), the Skowhegan School (Maine), and received her MFA in Painting from the School of Visual Arts (New York). Her work has been exhibited at Allegra La Viola Gallery (New York), Kenise Barnes Gallery (New York), The Drawing Center (New York), APT Gallery (London), and Weatherspoon Art Museum (North Carolina). She has been honored in receiving an Arts For Transit Public Commission for the New York City subway system, a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, two Fulbright Senior Research Fellowships (Germany, India, and Syria) and several MacDowell Colony Fellowships.  Margaret’s sculptures and paintings are part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Fogg Museum, The New York Public Library, and Yale University Art Gallery.

Trick or Treat with Dirk Westphal

2011-10-26T17:59:53Z

Scary greetings ArtWeLove collectors,

It's that time of year again when we celebrate change and the impermanent nature of life (also the move into deep freeze for those of us in New York at least.)

We could not think of a better edition than Dolly Madison Zebra Stripe Death from our beloved Dirk Westphal to mark the occasion.

Halloween's fun is all about tricking the eye, and with Dirk's amazing work it's all about treating them too.

In his second exclusive edition from the dessert series, Dirk continues his love affair with how common everyday products are manipulated into attractiveness through application of color and texture.

Furthermore, he recognizes that there’s a slightly darker side to it, in that, what’s attractive isn’t necessarily good for us. Cool Peppermint Fresh Stripe V2.0 isn't just about toothpaste afterall, Little Debbie Frosted Fudge Recycle isn't really about chocolate, just as Dolly Madison Zebra Stripe Death isn't really about cookie dough, or is it?

Got it? Chew on that one for a while....

Happy Halloween, and happy collecting!

Laurence

ABOUT DIRK WESTPHAL

Dirk received his Masters in Fine Art from the California Institute of the Arts. His photographs have been shown throughout the United States and abroad at such galleries and institutions as the Tim Olsen Gallery (Sydney), the CatStreet Gallery (Hong Kong), Baldwin Gallery (Aspen), DesignWithinReach (Los Angeles), the New York Historical Society, Art in General (New York), Exit Art (New York), Glenn Horowitz (East Hampton), and Mixed Greens (New York). His artworks are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute (New York), the Progressive Collection (Cleveland, OH), the New York Times Photo Archives (New York), Pfizer, Corel, and Sir Elton John.

Dirk’s images have appeared in a wide array of publications and books including The New York Times and New York Sunday Times magazine, V magazine, The Village Voice, The New York Observer, Marie Claire, and der Spiegel.

Collector Stories: Carlos Huber

2011-10-19T14:52:11Z

Welcome to the third installment of a new FIRST VIEW feature: Collector Stories. With Collector Stories, you get intimate portraits of incredible ARTWELOVE collectors. Collectors like Carlos Huber.

Architect turned perfumer Carlos Huber is a charming New York City-based Mexican-born cosmopolitan gentleman who can switch from Spanish to English to French or Italian all in one conversation. A world traveler and history buff, it’s no surprise that he owns three ArtWeLove artworks in his collection (Alumix Dust 1937-2008, Present and Paris.)

Trained as an Architect and Preservationist, Carlos has distinguished himself most recently as a perfumer in his own right. Tapping into his background as a historical preservationist (Carlos studied with architect and artist Jorge Otero-Pailos while at Columbia and was involved with some of his experimental projects), he recently launched Arquiste, a line of 5 unisex historical perfumes. He meticulously researched rare ingredients to create five olfactive sensations that each evoke a specific time and place. The venture has received rave reviews from W Magazine, GQ, Refinery 29 and Daily Candy, and can be found at Barneys and the Webster.

Carlos' personal style is as sophisticated, vibrant, and inspiring as his perfumes. We recently asked Carlos for a tour of the New York home he shares with partner Nate Berkus to see how he integrated his ArtWeLove prints. While visiting, we could not help to ask the rising talent some rather Proustian questions. Answers to which follow.

ArtWeLove: What do you do for a living?
Carlos Huber: Architect, preservationist, and perfumer

AWL: Why do you buy art / collect?
CH: Art, in all forms, nurtures life.

AWL: What was your first art piece?
CH: My childhood sketches that my parents would frame and hang for my bedroom.

AWL: If you could own any piece of art, what would it be?
CH: I would love to own a masterpiece of architecture: a house by Legorreta, an interior by Jean Michel Frank, or a property like Charles de Beistegui’s Chateau de Groussay where I could build pavilions and follies. The Wounded Cuirassier by Theodore Gericault would make me very happy too.

AWL: When and where are you the happiest?
CH: When visiting a Museum that I love with someone I love.

AWL: Which artist do you admire?
CH: All artists devoted to making something out of nothing.

AWL: Which gallery, museum, or art-related space makes you the happiest?
CH: Here in New York, the Metropolitan Museum; in Mexico City, the murals of the San Ildefonso Museum; in Paris, the Musée de la Chasse in the Marais.

AWL: What quality do you most admire in a piece of art?
CH: The sublime: the ability to take your breath away.

AWL: What artwork would you love to see in person?
CH: Picasso’s Guernica

AWL: Pen or pencil?
CH: Pencil!!!!! I need to be able to erase when I write/draw/design

AWL: Abstract or Pop Art?
CH: Neither really. I like complexity.

AWL: Dark or milk chocolate?
CH: Milk chocolate

Works from Carlos’ collection:

Alumix Dust, 1937-2008 by Jorge Otero-Pailos

Paris by Ambroise Tezenas

Present by Midori Harima

Meet other ArtWeLove collectors:
Rick Webb
Roz Morris

New & Exclusive Limited Art Print: Hieroglyph by Clive van den Berg

2011-10-11T15:44:05Z

Hello dear First View readers,

It is Laurence happily back from a long hiatus, and thrilled to introduce you to a new ArtWeLove edition.

Hieroglyph is our second collaboration with established South African artist Clive van den Berg.

I find Hieroglyph particularly fitting with the spirit of our times, and recent events.

Like many of us, I’ve been reflecting on the legacy of the iconic Apple co-founder. I’ve also followed with great interest the introduction of the next generation of the Facebook profile. Both Jobs and Zuckerberg have paved the way to an increasingly wired life, one that our grandparents could have never imagined.

Clive’s work addresses head on some of the issues raised by the always-on life, such as the relationship between the individual and space, and the fine line between our public and private lives.

While these issues have always existed, they’ve become exponentially more important. Yet, as we go through our daily grind, we barely realize that the history of our digital lives is in the making. Hieroglyph’s timeless resonance and visionary outlook help me pause and reflect on the meaning of it all.

Until next time, happy collecting!

Laurence

“Hieroglyph” by Clive van den Berg
Archival pigment print
$50 (14 x 11 inches, edition of 500)
$200 (20 x 16 inches, edition of 100)
$1000 (30 x 24 inches, edition of 10)
Collect now

About Clive van den Berg:

A contemporary to Willliam Kentridge, Clive’s art is deeply influenced by the post-apartheid era in South Africa, where he has created some of the most iconic and thought-provoking public art projects in his home country.

Clive van den Berg received a B.A.F.A. from the University of Natal (South Africa). He has exhibited works at N.S.A. Gallery (Durban, South Africa), Palais des Beaux-Arts (Belgium), Goodman Gallery (Johannesburg), and the Museum of African Art (New York). He has had two major exhibitions and commissions from the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Clive van den Berg has also earned several major prizes, including, internationally, a Civitella Ranieri fellowship and the Michelin International Art Competition. His work has been collected by the South African National Gallery and the Johannesburg Art Gallery, among public institutions, and is included in numerous corporate and private collections in South Africa and abroad. Clive van den Berg completed a residency at Columbia University in 2009, working with the Engendering the Archive group and with the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies. Clive van den Berg has been awarded a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship for 2010/11.

Variations sur le même t'aime

2011-06-10T21:27:51Z

Greetings Collectors,

This week we're thrilled to introduce a new series, iheart variation 003_10, featuring editions by Rushkoff/Friesen/Carnes.

If you're having a moment of déjà vu, it's because we launched a similarly evolutionary and conceptual series by Seth Indigo Carnes last year, called iheart variation 003, then followed it up with an interactive exhibit at the Roger Smith Hotel last winter.

Watch the iheart variation 003 film with people creating their own variations

As you may recall, Seth created five images: iheart, heart, camera, pill, and splat, all to empower people to consider, explore, and put their own spins on the meaning of five common and powerful visual symbols.

As Seth puts it: "This concept of living symbols--changing over time, context and hands beyond my own--is activated by several radical ideas from 20th-century art: play, chance, and the transformation of human life through creative activity."

We fell in love with Rushkoff/Friesen/Carnes's very inspired remixes, which brought us full circle by digging deep into the roots of modern cut-up: the Beats and other 60's psychedelic creators. With texts from Burroughs, Leary, Ginsberg, and Warhol, the original five symbols created by Seth take a whole new meaning, yet stay true to their original creator's vision.

View the creation of iheart variation 003_010

That's (evolutionary) art we love.    And, now, we're bringing these works to you--exclusively.

There are 4 editions total (including night gleam pictured at top) each one 8 x 8 inches, each one a series of 100, each one $50.

Happy collecting!

the ticket that exploded
Archival pigment print
8 x 8 inches
edition of 100 at $50
Collect Now

turn on, tune in, drop out
Archival pigment print
8 x 8 inches
edition of 100 at $50
Collect Now

a: a novel
Archival pigment print
8 x 8 inches
edition of 100 at $50
Collect Now

There's also a mashed-up benefit edition, this one 16 x 16 inches, with 100% of the $200 price tag going to the NYC Department of Education's general fund.

the gleam that turned on an exploded novel
Archival pigment print
16 x 16 inches
Limited open edition
$200
Collect Now

Want to know about our weekly new releases? Join our First View newsletter to get the latest news about our exclusive, museum-quality limited editions.

Can You Draw the Internet? New Benefit Editions Say Yes!

2011-06-05T10:30:21Z

Greetings Collectors!

It’s Laurence today, back from a maternity semi-leave, super-excited to introduce four stunning, exclusive benefit editions, specially produced in honor of Internet Week NY, a festival celebrating NYC’s thriving Internet industry and community.

For a full week, starting today, the New York tech scene will be bustling with thousands of panel discussions and networking events, bringing together venture capitalists, digital entrepreneurs, and media folks from all around the world!

To express our love for the net, and the ever-growing synergy of technology and fine art, we’ve partnered with The International Academy of Digital Arts And Sciences (the organization behind Internet Week NY), The Mayor’s Office of Media And Entertainment, The NYC Department of Education, and Saint to create a unique creative platform titled Can You Draw the Internet?

Part gallery exhibition, part online art show, it marries the analog and digital art worlds, asking students, artists, and internet enthusiasts alike to submit their artistic interpretations of the Internet.

All on a single page, canvas, or layer. (It’s the ultimate open brief.)
A website has been built (www.canyoudrawtheinternet.com), where all submitted artworks will live.

Leading thinkers and artists Douglas Rushkoff, Josh Harris, Shelter Serra, Shaun Friesen, and Seth Indigo Carnes have also been invited to contribute artworks, from which we’ve created four stunning benefit edition prints. These editions are very special:

Josh Harris offers us a mythical, stone-age-like yet futuristic Portrait of Larry Page. Considering the original is for sale at $1,000,000 for Larry and $100,000 for everyone else, our $200 print edition is a bargain!

With Stanford Bunny (green matrix), Shelter Serra revives the original computer graphics test model. (Yes, it’s that Stanford bunny!)

Seth Indigo Carnes gives us a sober yet lucid vision of our lives under digital influences with WARMONEYEATXXXXUSAXXXXXBUYLOVE.

Last but not least, Douglas Rushkoff, Shaun Friesen, and Seth Indigo Carnes's the gleam that turned on an exploded novel is a quintessential digital-age collaborative art performance: a re-arrangement and re-contextualization of five images from the series i heart variation 003, using web-based source materials of Beat generation literature and concepts, ultimately creating new meanings. And we love the video documenting the process.

Excellent news: 100% of the sales proceeds will be donated to the NYC Department of Education’s general fund. So you can treat yourself while benefiting hungry-to-learn students across the city.

Reminder: All four prints are demand-led limited editions, meaning they are sold exclusively on ArtWeLove for a limited time only (6/6 to 6/26). So the total number of editions will be a function of the total number of buyers, with a maximum cap of 100 editions per print. Each print will be uniquely numbered and will come with a signed certificate of authenticity.

For those of you hitting Internet Week NY events across the city, come check these editions in person at the Internet Week NY Gallery 6/6 to 6/13.

And as always, happy collecting!

PS: Learn more about Can You Draw the Internet?

Want to know about our weekly new releases? Join our First View newsletter to get the latest news about our exclusive, museum-quality limited editions.

Little Debbie Frosted Fudge Recycle by Dirk Westphal

2011-06-05T06:50:35Z

Greetings, Collectors!

It’s Mariya today, thrilled to introduce you to Dirk Westphal’s first edition from his Desserts series, Little Debbie Frosted Fudge Recycle.

Created exclusively for ARTWELOVE, Little Debbie Frosted Fudge Recycle, comes at a genius time: World Environment Day is happening on the 5th of June, which is this weekend.

As we learned in April, when introducing Cool Peppermint Fresh Stripe V2.0, Dirk takes familiar subjects and re-contextualizes them with distinctive artistic wit, giving viewers new ways to look and see.

With the Desserts series, Dirk takes much the same approach with some enticing chocolate cakes, abundantly filled and coated with fudge.

What began as a encyclopedic collection of symbols--and fascination with corporate logos--has resulted in different series within the Desserts oeuvre. For instance, one group of images depicts brightly colored desserts incorporated into bank logos, while others take the form of universally recognized symbols like the one for danger.

This way, Dirk continues his love affair with how common everyday products are manipulated into attractiveness through application of color and texture. Furthermore, he recognizes that there’s a slightly darker side to it, in that, what’s attractive isn’t necessarily good for us.

Choosing to manipulate a Little Debbie cake, representative of innocence and indulgence, into the universal symbol for recycling exemplifies the cultural frictions at work and play in his creations.

As Dirk’s Desserts series is revealed throughout this summer, courtesy of ARTWELOVE, the conceptual paradoxes and conflicts will continue to delight, illuminate, and, yes, challenge.

Encouraging you to go ahead and indulge, Little Debbie Frosted Fudge Recycle is printed on 100% cotton paper with a gloss finish and available in three sizes: a sweet 14 x 11 inches (edition of 250) at $50, a delicious 20 x 16 inches (edition of 100) at $200, and an irresistible 30 x 24 inches (edition of 10) at $1000.

Until next time, happy collecting!

Want to know about our weekly new releases? Join our First View newsletter to get the latest news about our exclusive, museum-quality limited editions.

Discover A Barbarian's Collection

2011-05-25T23:11:16Z

MEET ARTWELOVE COLLECTOR: RICK WEBB

Sunny Greetings from New York ArtWeLove Collectors,

Welcome to the second installment of one of our most popular FIRST VIEW features: Collector Stories!

With Collector Stories, you get intimate portraits of incredible ARTWELOVE collectors. Collectors like you. Collectors like Rick Webb.

Monsieur Webb comes way west of New York harbor... by way of Alaska... with a pitstop in Boston... where he founded (along with Benjamin Palmer) The Barbarian Group, the web agency responsible for the infamous Subservient Chicken.

Rick is my favorite type of collector: the independent, culturally curious kind who follows his interests and passion, rather than the mode du jour. And he's got an artistic inclination too: He had his own rock band at one point and is the owner of record label Archenemy.

Unsurprisingly, Rick’s artistic inclinations have led him to collecting edgy, personal works from a diverse pool of artists. Among his ArtWeLove editions are some of Art in America’s favorites: works by Stephane Couturier, Jorge Otero-Pailos, and Luisa Rabbia--all of which were featured in the prestigious magazine’s recent ArtWeLove feature!

Read on for his answers to our rather Proustian questions about art.

What do you do for a living?
I co-founded a digital marketing company called The Barbarian Group and work as their COO.

Why do you buy art / collect?
I have this sort of obsession with saving the things that are under-appreciated or people are forgetting about. And I love art. The two intersect in a weird area where I collect Art from forgotten or under-appreciated artists.

What was your first art piece?
Stuff from friends and acquaintances at first. The first piece was a 3' by 5' acrylic on unstretched canvas with a very Baconesqe feel to it.

If you could own any piece of art, what would it be?
Ha. Oh god. Too many. Probably something that would fit in my apartment and isn't too susceptible to theft. Maybe a small Rossetti or Burne-Jones. Those Pre-Raphaelites did small canvases well.

Which artist do you admire?
Only one? If it's only one, probably Duchamp. Technical mastery, satire, commentary, and a sense of perspective enough to retire.

Which gallery, museum, or art-related space makes you the happiest?
Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas. Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, swoon, and so so serene.

What quality do you most admire in a piece of art?
Affordability, emotion, and a small size.

What artwork would you love to see in person?
Smithson's Spiral Jetty.

Pen or pencil?
Pen. Bravery.

Abstract or Pop Art?
Abstract. A balm to my day job.

Dark or milk chocolate?
Dark. For my girl.

Want to hear more Collector Stories and know about our weekly new releases? Join our First View newsletter to get the latest stories and news on all our editions.

Works from Rick's Collection

Kate by Servane Mary
Archival pigment print
$50 (13.2 x 11 inches) 
$100 (19.4 x 16 inches)
 $250 (24.3 x 20 inches)
Collect Now

Visit Servane Mary's studio

Melting Point Series, Brasilia Museu Nacional 1 by Stephane Couturier
Archival pigment print
$1000 (24 x 30 inches)
Collect Now

Learn about Stephane Couturier

Alumix Dust - 1937-2008 by Jorge Otero-Pailos
Archival pigment print
$100 (10 7/8 x 12 inches)
$275 (16 x 17 3/4 inches)
Collect Now

Visit Jorge Otero-Pailos's studio

Travel Scrapbooks 1883/2008, 2 by Luisa Rabbia
Archival pigment print
$50 (7.8 x 14 inches)
Collect Now

Visit Luisa Rabbia's studio