LA

What happend in LA?

Laz popped it

well... I am looking for a Judgement Day..

I hear the bubble burst so don't ask for the moon ;-)

My gut feeling is Anthony is probably quite comfortable with his career. The originals are where it's at and his work is great. The prints don't really turn me on but the oil on canvas work is very strong

LA was Micallef's 'Beautiful Inside My Head Forever'.  The moment that felt good at the time but marked the high water mark from which it all receded.

Micallef is a very talented artist(though I prefer older work to the thick impasto works he is doing now).  However, in this world that is not enough.  There are a million Chinese who can paint as well as any artist on this forum.  That doesn't mean their work is worth a thing.

But, prior to LA and the infamous print drop around the same time, Micallef was very hot amongst a very narrow group.  The LA show was supposed to replicate the Banksy LA moment, and Laz pushed prices way, way, way, way beyond what they should have been.  I'm talking tens of thousands, some a couple of hundred thousand.  In retrospect(and at the time) it was absolutely ridiculous.  

So, you have a young artist of great talent, whose prices have now risen to a level where there is just no support.  His top-end work goes stone cold.

On the low end, the release of a 1000 edition print killed the print-flipping market, the hype, the talk, the lust, the desire.  Micallef's prints go from selling for up to $15k(for the quite excellent '21st Century Love') and lust for 'Girl in Red Dress' to stone cold.  

He hasn't recovered.  Probably won't recover.  The art world is littered with formerly hot painters that now teach art history, or do graphic design on the side.

That being said, damn is he fantastic.  I absolutely love his mid-to-late 2000's work.  Hoping for a large, well-printed coffee table book one day.
 

I agree.

Anyone know what Girl Tokyos original price from Eyestorm was?

Thanks.  That's much appreciated.  I used to post a lot back-in-the-day, some of it halfway decent, some I look back at and recognize as ignorant blather.  But, it was fun.  The early forum days, from eBay Banksy to thegiant.org(which I used to moderate) to the darkside, were all a great learning experience.

Then, kids.  Lol.  Changes a lot of things.

Side note, whenever I think of the talent of Micallef, I also think of Chris Kettle.  He would get a few mentions on the forums in the past but never really caught on.  His painting skills are jaw-dropping.  If I remember correctly, Micallef himself said, "No one paints metal like Christ Kettle."  Check him out.  

Love the way Chris Kettle paints. I first came across his work when he shared a studio in Farm road, Brighton, with Dan Baldwin. I was dropping of a Vespa scooter for Baldwin to paint and saw Chris's work, he's a technical genius. I recently saw his work again last year when I went to the charity auction, organised by Naked eye gallery, for the benefit of Simon Dixon, who has since sadly passed away. I was chasing the small canvas Antony Micallef had donated and saw an amazing little Kettle oil sell for £350?! Such a bargain! I love Antony's work and have two small originals on my walls right in front of me now. I think his Star has a long way to go and will shine extremely brightly in the future. For me his recent memorable moments have been Raw Intent in HK and his Trump Marlboro cigarette packets.
Heres a link to the canvas I was outbid on, I should have gone higher:
Micallef 'Dixon'

Tis true, especially when people like Paul Moorhouse are writing essays about your work. See my reply at the bottom of page one for a nice little cheeky image of a small Micallef canvas, very loose and quickly painted.

The guy is class. Wonderful paintings and sketches. His prints aren't great and it's a medium which doesn't compliment/work with his vision. It's a tough sphere to operate within (portraiture).



Edit: great thread this

Micallef's biggest issue is that his recent work isn't as good (imho) as his early eyestorm editions- I agree super talented, and hope that Bram is right and his best work is ahead of him

I have most of the eyestorm prints - 21st CL and Tokyo girl on my walls now - and l enjoy them everyday

... I was right then

... he is coming back strong and using modern platforms to spread his work, ie see his insta page...

... he has not released a print in ages and therefore you either recognise his older prints or have never been exposed to them ... his originals are out of this world both creatively and price wise ...

... I think and hope that he does return (not saying that he has disappeared)

... I do own one or two micallef prints but I always come back to one of his later smaller pieces 'A Small Print Of What I Think Love Looks Like' ... look it up ... full screen and stare at it ... enjoy