Performance artist Wolfgang Flatz put his skin up for sale: All pieces sold
Austrian performance artist Wolfgang Flatz put tattooed pieces of his skin up for sale while still alive. The auction, which was scheduled for February 8, was canceled because all 12 pieces of skin were purchased by a collector.
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It was stated that the artist's skin pieces will be transferred to the collector after Wolfgang Flatz's death.
One remaining piece of tattooed skin will be given to the artist's son.
Some of the tattoos feature the artist's name written in the Cyrillic alphabet and the Roman philosopher Cicero's phrase "Dum spiro spero" (while I breathe, I hope).
TO BE EXHIBITED UNTIL MAY 2024
A retrospective consisting of Flatz's works will be on display at the Munich Museum until May 2024.
The first of the works to be exhibited as part of the retrospective was "Something Wrong with Physical Sculpture," a piece that offered the chance to throw darts at Flatz's body.
A PORTION OF THE PROCEEDS WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO A FOUNDATION
According to The Art Newspaper, an undisclosed portion of the proceeds from the sale will be transferred to the museum's Bavarian State Painting Collections and the Flatz Foundation, which was established by the artist to promote "artistic expression."
The sale raises certain ethical and legal challenges regarding the production, exhibition, and sale of avant-garde artworks, particularly those associated with the Viennese Actionism movement (spanning the 1960s and 1970s), with which Flatz is also linked.
Legal expert Xisca Borràs stated on the matter, "There will be ethical and cultural sensitivities regarding the sale of human tissue and skin, which is an organ."