Building on the success of last year’s Trespassing sale—which brought together street art, collaborations between artists and luxury brands, and other multi-category works—Christie’s is launching a second Trespassing auction that will take place online July 9-22. Last year’s edition delivered 210% of its pre-sale estimate, and brought in nearly $2.4m in the traditionally dead month of August. Curated by Ronnie K. Pirovino and Lindsay Griffith, Trespassing aims to tap into a collector audience energized by graphic pieces inspired by graffiti and commercial aesthetics.
A wide range of work is available this year. Proven street-artists like KAWS, Banksy, and Invader set the tone of the sale, bringing in their now classic influence on the contemporary scene, and lesser known artists have also been folded into the show.
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Artists like Katherine Bernhardt have found themselves exposed to a new collecting regime through auctions like Trespassing Bernhardt, whose work will be available at this year’s sale, saw record prices for her work at the 2020 Trespassing auction. Pink Panther + Instagram + Orchids realized $125,000 against a high estimate of $30,000.
Lindsay Griffith, Head of Department, Prints and Multiples at Christie’s New York, commented that there is plenty of growth in this sector. Griffith told ARTnews over the phone that “53 out of 210 bidders were completely new to Christie’s” during Trespassing 2020.
“There’s so much energy in this space,” Griffith continued, “particularly because of the ubiquity of Instagram and other image sharing platforms which have really amplified interest in these artists whose work translates quite well online. That’s certainly how I think a lot of these younger artists are being discovered by this buying audience and that’s really where we’re seeing that interest grow.”
Trespassing will be the first online multi-category sale at Christie’s to include NFTs, which appeal to collectors who are also energized by street-art inspired work. Michah Dowbak’s (also known as Mad Dog Jones) NFT A Bag of Oranges (2019-2021) is up for sale. Dowak originally sold A Bag of Oranges as a photo print at Tokyo’s Diesel Gallery in 2019. The piece was adapted for sale as an NFT with Dowbak animating several elements of the image, including a filter of snowfall that quietly accumulates in the background on a loop. There is no estimate for A Bag of Oranges. The bidding will start at $100, as is the case with the other NFTs included in the show.
Daniel Arsham‘s collaboration with Dior is also featured in the sale. Dior Eroded Basketball (2020) is a white resin cast basketball with quartz crystals studding the points of “erosion.” It is number 84 of an edition of 250 and is estimated at $10,000-$15,000. Three of KAWS’ “Four Foot Companion” (2007) sculptures will be available, alongside three “Four Foot Dissected Companion” (2009) sculptures which show the figures’ muscles, bones, and guts. Each “Companion” sculpture comes in different colors are all estimated at $85,000-$125,000.