Urban Art Association

Thierry noir, Nick smith, fanakapan, penny , by Terry Fuckwitt on Mar 12, 2023 16:02:26 GMT 1,

Mar 12, 2023 14:50:24 GMT 1 met said:

Mar 7, 2023 2:59:26 GMT 1 met said:

Thank you for getting back to me.


1.  Unfortunately, the Madonna paster you were selling or sold on eBay is a fake. And both to my mind and eyes, a pretty obvious fake.


   1.1  If you reach out to Mr Brainwash's team, I am confident they will confirm the same.


   1.2  It looks to me like the paster could be one of the many forgeries churned out by the Swedish failed-artist-cum-counterfeiter, Patrick Agler, a.k.a. Patrick Maske, a.k.a. Michael Kadaz, a.k.a. Robert Hilmersson.*



2.  As a minor aside, I have zero interest in Mr Brainwash as an artist. Yet, as is the case with many other collectors, I do take an interest in — and I'm rather militant about — fake artworks being passed off as authentic.

One of the reasons I'm a member of this message board is to promote open dialogue and good-faith, public exchanges of information and viewpoints. That includes encouraging people to think twice before buying low-calibre art and, as a courtesy heads-up, pointing out cases of counterfeits when I occasionally spot them.



3.  Notwithstanding what you've mentioned above, there were reasons to question where the pasters came from.

This was an opportunity to carry out your due diligence.

Simply assuming items to be genuine is tantamount to placing one's trust in superficial appearances, or even in faith. That is the antithesis of healthy scepticism, and of our personal responsibilities as art collectors.


   3.1  Whether they're corrupt, recklessly negligent, or just shamefully ignorant/incompetent, dealers and auction houses trading in fakes tend to trade in authentic artworks as well. Their businesses wouldn't last very long otherwise.


   3.2  Madonna pasters were created and put up in 2009, as part of the promotional campaign for the release of her greatest hits record, Celebration. The pasters varied in size, and a few notable ones were enormous. However, none of them were in the format of your item.


   3.3  Many of the Madonna promo pasters were also hand-finished. But again, none like yours.

The thickness of the paint, along with the individualised effort and detail on yours, should have been a giveaway.

Hand-finished pasters for commercial marketing purposes are not made in such a manner. First, it's too time-consuming (i.e. not worth the effort for disposable pieces made in the dozens or hundreds that might, if lucky, last a week in the street). Second, any thick application of acrylic on pasters would hinder the paper's later absorption of wheatpaste — thereby making those pasters less suitable for their intended purpose.


   3.4  Some official Mr Brainwash Madonna posters were actually released in a similar format to your paster. If I were to guess, one of these posters was used by the counterfeiter to create a new screen from which the fake pasters were then produced.

There is a visible loss of quality in the fakes, and a couple of the more obvious tells are the unintended dark blotches on Madonna's chin and neck. These will have resulted from the reproduction screen having been poorly made (with possible tearing/damage to the cured photo emulsion). The same blotch patterns are visible on a separate counterfeit Madonna paster that was sold by Signari Gallery.


   3.5  Notwithstanding minor variations over the years, the signature of Mr Brainwash has always been distinctive and recognisable.

Per contra, the signature on yours was clearly not of Brainwash's hand, and should normally have been a red flag. He just doesn't sign like that.


[If you'll pardon my candour, I suspected you might actually have questioned in your own mind the authenticity of the signature on your paster.

This could explain the absence in your eBay listing of a close-up photo of the signature, which is odd given its importance and impact on perceived financial value. It could also explain why the context shot with the signature is blurry (when all of your other listing photos are in focus).

However, I do appreciate this is speculation on my part, and arguably unfair. I've mentioned it mainly to help illustrate part of my thought process.]



4.  Additional comments on your last post:


   4.1  The authenticity status of your other items is irrelevant to the question of whether the Madonna paster is genuine or fake. Selling one or more legitimate pieces is hardly a guarantee that all the others will be legitimate as well.


   4.2  The number of bids placed on your eBay auction is also irrelevant to the question of whether the Madonna paster is genuine or fake.

Widespread ignorance in the eBay community often results in the blind leading the blind. Fools take comfort in the very presence of other bidders. This offers them reassurance to place their own bids — which, in turn, encourages more fools to pile in.

It is the lemming effect: Other eBayers showing interest will inevitably give a few people the misplaced confidence to dispense with the most basic due-diligence checks.

Because, surely, we as bidders can rely on the fact that at least one of the other bidders actually did do their homework, right?



5.  I would encourage you to cancel your eBay sale for the Madonna paster.

Alternatively, send your winning bidder a link to this forum thread, in the interest of full disclosure and transparency. Then let them decide, on a better-informed basis, whether they really do wish to spend £1,950.00 plus shipping and proceed with the purchase.

The winning bidder may prefer to hold back unless and until the paster receives an official nod from the Brainwash camp.

Under the circumstances, this would be the rational approach for them to take. And the approach that an honest seller would typically want them to take — for their mutual peace of mind.

It was disappointing to access this thread again today and find there was no further comment from Art Attackkk .

The above post by me pointed to multiple issues indicating why the Madonna paster can be comfortably deemed a counterfeit.



Two follow-ups about the multiple issues cited:


1.  Each can be independently researched by interested parties (whether the seller or a potential buyer).

And for any good-faith seller, there exists a duty to put in the time and actually carry out the requisite research. Failure to do so, especially under the circumstances, is a dereliction of that seller's duty — suggesting bad faith more so than laziness.


2.  Each is also pretty damning in isolation. But when combined, their cumulative weight leaves no scope for reasonable doubt that we're in the presence of a fake.


__________



Good to see the eBay auction ending on 6 March 2023 did not complete, and that the winning bidder didn't get ripped off:


www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354609142355







But how depressing to discover the counterfeit was simply relisted.

Yet again, with no close-up, clear photo of the fake Mr Brainwash signature — only a suspiciously-distant, blurred image of that signature.

And with zero reference in the listing to the authenticity concerns:


www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354638951374





__________



As with all of my serious posts on this message board, I do make an effort to ensure what I write is considered, accurate, non-misleading, and fair.

If any member believes I've stated anything here that falls below this standard, please feel free to challenge me on the matter.

My concern isn't to be right, but rather to get it right. So whenever I happen to fall short, I certainly want to know about it — both for learning/correction purposes, and to decrease the likelihood of me repeating the same mistake(s) in the future.

I always appreciate the time and effort you put into your anti scammer posts met, as I'm sure many others do. 
I have no idea about the Mr Brainwash pasters, but going from this sellers listings of 'signed' Stik prints, I'm quite confident you are 100% correct.

'Stik signed these for me a few years ago in hackney'... No he didn't, did he Art Attackkk?


Sold for £2,575.00 five days ago




Listed now for BIN £3,999.00

Mar 12, 2023 14:50:24 GMT 1 met said:

Mar 7, 2023 2:59:26 GMT 1 met said:

Thank you for getting back to me.


1.  Unfortunately, the Madonna paster you were selling or sold on eBay is a fake. And both to my mind and eyes, a pretty obvious fake.


   1.1  If you reach out to Mr Brainwash's team, I am confident they will confirm the same.


   1.2  It looks to me like the paster could be one of the many forgeries churned out by the Swedish failed-artist-cum-counterfeiter, Patrick Agler, a.k.a. Patrick Maske, a.k.a. Michael Kadaz, a.k.a. Robert Hilmersson.*



2.  As a minor aside, I have zero interest in Mr Brainwash as an artist. Yet, as is the case with many other collectors, I do take an interest in — and I'm rather militant about — fake artworks being passed off as authentic.

One of the reasons I'm a member of this message board is to promote open dialogue and good-faith, public exchanges of information and viewpoints. That includes encouraging people to think twice before buying low-calibre art and, as a courtesy heads-up, pointing out cases of counterfeits when I occasionally spot them.



3.  Notwithstanding what you've mentioned above, there were reasons to question where the pasters came from.

This was an opportunity to carry out your due diligence.

Simply assuming items to be genuine is tantamount to placing one's trust in superficial appearances, or even in faith. That is the antithesis of healthy scepticism, and of our personal responsibilities as art collectors.


   3.1  Whether they're corrupt, recklessly negligent, or just shamefully ignorant/incompetent, dealers and auction houses trading in fakes tend to trade in authentic artworks as well. Their businesses wouldn't last very long otherwise.


   3.2  Madonna pasters were created and put up in 2009, as part of the promotional campaign for the release of her greatest hits record, Celebration. The pasters varied in size, and a few notable ones were enormous. However, none of them were in the format of your item.


   3.3  Many of the Madonna promo pasters were also hand-finished. But again, none like yours.

The thickness of the paint, along with the individualised effort and detail on yours, should have been a giveaway.

Hand-finished pasters for commercial marketing purposes are not made in such a manner. First, it's too time-consuming (i.e. not worth the effort for disposable pieces made in the dozens or hundreds that might, if lucky, last a week in the street). Second, any thick application of acrylic on pasters would hinder the paper's later absorption of wheatpaste — thereby making those pasters less suitable for their intended purpose.


   3.4  Some official Mr Brainwash Madonna posters were actually released in a similar format to your paster. If I were to guess, one of these posters was used by the counterfeiter to create a new screen from which the fake pasters were then produced.

There is a visible loss of quality in the fakes, and a couple of the more obvious tells are the unintended dark blotches on Madonna's chin and neck. These will have resulted from the reproduction screen having been poorly made (with possible tearing/damage to the cured photo emulsion). The same blotch patterns are visible on a separate counterfeit Madonna paster that was sold by Signari Gallery.


   3.5  Notwithstanding minor variations over the years, the signature of Mr Brainwash has always been distinctive and recognisable.

Per contra, the signature on yours was clearly not of Brainwash's hand, and should normally have been a red flag. He just doesn't sign like that.


[If you'll pardon my candour, I suspected you might actually have questioned in your own mind the authenticity of the signature on your paster.

This could explain the absence in your eBay listing of a close-up photo of the signature, which is odd given its importance and impact on perceived financial value. It could also explain why the context shot with the signature is blurry (when all of your other listing photos are in focus).

However, I do appreciate this is speculation on my part, and arguably unfair. I've mentioned it mainly to help illustrate part of my thought process.]



4.  Additional comments on your last post:


   4.1  The authenticity status of your other items is irrelevant to the question of whether the Madonna paster is genuine or fake. Selling one or more legitimate pieces is hardly a guarantee that all the others will be legitimate as well.


   4.2  The number of bids placed on your eBay auction is also irrelevant to the question of whether the Madonna paster is genuine or fake.

Widespread ignorance in the eBay community often results in the blind leading the blind. Fools take comfort in the very presence of other bidders. This offers them reassurance to place their own bids — which, in turn, encourages more fools to pile in.

It is the lemming effect: Other eBayers showing interest will inevitably give a few people the misplaced confidence to dispense with the most basic due-diligence checks.

Because, surely, we as bidders can rely on the fact that at least one of the other bidders actually did do their homework, right?



5.  I would encourage you to cancel your eBay sale for the Madonna paster.

Alternatively, send your winning bidder a link to this forum thread, in the interest of full disclosure and transparency. Then let them decide, on a better-informed basis, whether they really do wish to spend £1,950.00 plus shipping and proceed with the purchase.

The winning bidder may prefer to hold back unless and until the paster receives an official nod from the Brainwash camp.

Under the circumstances, this would be the rational approach for them to take. And the approach that an honest seller would typically want them to take — for their mutual peace of mind.

It was disappointing to access this thread again today and find there was no further comment from Art Attackkk .

The above post by me pointed to multiple issues indicating why the Madonna paster can be comfortably deemed a counterfeit.



Two follow-ups about the multiple issues cited:


1.  Each can be independently researched by interested parties (whether the seller or a potential buyer).

And for any good-faith seller, there exists a duty to put in the time and actually carry out the requisite research. Failure to do so, especially under the circumstances, is a dereliction of that seller's duty — suggesting bad faith more so than laziness.


2.  Each is also pretty damning in isolation. But when combined, their cumulative weight leaves no scope for reasonable doubt that we're in the presence of a fake.


__________



Good to see the eBay auction ending on 6 March 2023 did not complete, and that the winning bidder didn't get ripped off:


www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354609142355







But how depressing to discover the counterfeit was simply relisted.

Yet again, with no close-up, clear photo of the fake Mr Brainwash signature — only a suspiciously-distant, blurred image of that signature.

And with zero reference in the listing to the authenticity concerns:


www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354638951374





__________



As with all of my serious posts on this message board, I do make an effort to ensure what I write is considered, accurate, non-misleading, and fair.

If any member believes I've stated anything here that falls below this standard, please feel free to challenge me on the matter.

My concern isn't to be right, but rather to get it right. So whenever I happen to fall short, I certainly want to know about it — both for learning/correction purposes, and to decrease the likelihood of me repeating the same mistake(s) in the future.

I always appreciate the time and effort you put into your anti scammer posts met, as I'm sure many others do. 
I have no idea about the Mr Brainwash pasters, but going from this sellers listings of 'signed' Stik prints, I'm quite confident you are 100% correct.

'Stik signed these for me a few years ago in hackney'... No he didn't, did he Art Attackkk?


Sold for £2,575.00 five days ago




Listed now for BIN £3,999.00