The Wurst Gallery

February 4, 2005 6:16 AM

The Wurst Gallery : Artists are challenged to find pieces from local thrift stores and alter them into a new work of art. These are the results.
posted by grapefruitmoon (10 comments total)

This is great, thanks for the link.

I'll admit that my first impression was that this (really just the fact that all this artwork seems to be selling for hundreds of dollars) was akin to how the hipster boutiques around Ithaca (where I went to school) used to raid all the Salvation Army's and the like to grab up stuff to resell at incredible markups.

But, it's not really like that at all. Bad first impression, bad! Instead, this is just very very cool...

I think i've seen other "manupulated thrift-store paintings" projects out there....?
posted by tpl1212 at 6:49 AM on February 4, 2005

I think I like the idea of what they are doing more then the actual altered paintings.
posted by kuatto at 7:04 AM on February 4, 2005

I like the mouseover before and after - fun stuff. Also see Eddie Breen, who's been doing this for a while too. He calls it Piggyback Art.
posted by iconomy at 7:19 AM on February 4, 2005

Very cool indeed. Also of note, Wayne White's wordplay, which is similar.
posted by jonson at 7:32 AM on February 4, 2005

I actually bought the Koichiro Takagi painting, and since he lives in my neighborhood, he's actually going to bring it by in a couple of weeks when he returns from Japan. Dealing with him, and Jason from Wurst has been great -- it's nice when commerce feels like community (Yes, that could be the cynical motto of many an online venture, I know). I'm really thrilled by projects like the Wurst Gallery which aspire to expose lesser-known artists while making reasonably affortable art available to people who just want something cool to put on their walls.

Does any one know of any other "galleries" like Wurst? Copro/Nason is somewhat similar, but I don't like their aesthetic as much...
posted by TonyRobots at 7:49 AM on February 4, 2005

It isn't quite the same, but the Museum of Bad Art shares some qualities.
posted by jeremias at 7:53 AM on February 4, 2005

super rad! probably a good thing I didn't see this sooner as I would have been itching to buy this
posted by freudianslipper at 10:13 AM on February 4, 2005

This reminds me of the "Found" project which runs in our local indy newspaper - people submit little pieces of paper with notes on them that they find wherever. These notes, which to the writer were sometimes mundane and sometimes great epiphanies, are splendidly opaque to the rest of us.
posted by Melinama at 11:47 AM on February 4, 2005

How depressing it must be to be one of this grouping and to have your work unsold.
posted by spock at 12:00 PM on February 4, 2005

I think i've seen other "manipulated thrift-store paintings" projects out there....?

a big show in atlanta about a decade ago.
posted by 3.2.3 at 10:54 AM on February 24, 2005