John Armitage: Contemporary Art & Luxury Brands Seminar

Event details

Beginning with a broad definition of contemporary art, craft, and design, this illustrated seminar asks a series of questions about the relationship between contemporary art and luxury brands. Just what is the connection between artists such as Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton? Why is Damien Hirst crafting purses for Prada? Why are ‘radical’ street artists such as Shepard Fairey designing luxury watches and ‘controversial’ artists such as the Chapman brothers designing luxury luggage collections? When does contemporary art become a luxury? And when does luxury become contemporary art? These questions matter because the relationship between contemporary art and luxury brands is much more complex , much more entangled, and much more politically contentious than many imagine. For, in a contemporary art world increasingly dominated by contemporary art museums owned and controlled by luxury brands, such as Paris’ Fondation Cartier, the very definition of what contemporary art is and can be is progressively being decided not by contemporary artists but by luxury brands.