Artist Profile
Camden (NJ) born, Venezuelan raised, and recipient of a Yale MFA in sculpture (2010), conceptual artist Alex Da Corte has been a fast-rising star in the art world for the last decade. His multi-colored, dreamlike works and installations make the familiar new again, in unfamiliar ways. He playfully and surrealistically fuses influences from pop and mass culture (often kitsch), design, and art history. This lot is a fine example of one of his shampoo paintings. Da Corte has taken everyday shampoo (my guess is Pantene), and fetishized it in a new way. The randomness and unknown outcome of the pour falls within the grand tradition of abstract painting – while the mirror as canvas brings the bathroom, and our vanity, to life right before our eyes.

Artist Market
Da Corte’s auction record is $63,000 (Oct ’20), but his larger and more ambitious works are selling for more at his galleries. He is repped by blue chip galleries: Matthew Marks (NYC and LA), Luxembourg and Dayan (NYC and London, and Sadie Coles (London). It really doesn’t get much better than that for someone 40 years old. This particular shampoo painting is a nice one – a good atmospheric pour and color combo. These works don’t have the strongest market right now, and another shampoo painting failed to sell at Phillips earlier in February at $12,000. However, I’m a big believer in the artist in general, and a disciplined buy will pay off with patience down the road. A winning bid of $10,000 (hammer) will get you this work for about $14,000, which is a great price to have of an artist who will be around for a long, long time, and whose market I feel will continue to mature and rise in the next decade.

Phillip’s Lot Page

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