Urban Art Association

Hi guys,

I first heard about that Cartrain feud when Hirst had him remove his collage Love of God stuff. I immediately thought Hirst was a asshole (though I admit using Hirst's art is not very original and clever, Hirst's reaction, given his fortune, was very puerile as well).
Now, I don't think Cartrain's art is interesting or innovative in any way. He's just a copycat taking stuff from Hirst and Banksy.
But, imho, That Pencil box stealing is a "coup de maître". (I am French ;-)
Contemporary Art is more and more a matter of money and publicity and we should admit that Cartrain was good at it. I personnally bought a few minutes ago a "Ransom" cartrain art print. I would never had bought his art without that Hirst / Cartrain Feud hitting major newspapers. That art print has no visual interest. It is ugly. It is probably poorly printed.
But I made a bet. I think that if Cartrain becomes a famous artist some day (if he improves his art and develops his own ideas, and he has plenty of time for that) or even if he does not, he nonetheless has written a small chapter in History of Art. Whether you like Hirst or not, or his art, he is a major figure of CA. And that episode will be of importance in future Hirst Art books etc. The current pieces Cartrain/Hirst are to become collectors. So yeah, I made an investment on future value of Cartrain's art.
I did not buy Shepard Fairey's art prints some time ago and I now have regrets, given he became a famed artist (and controversed one as well because of use of copyrighted or famous art in his works). Justice will take care of legal matters. But Art world and collectors will retain that some of these pieces are Art History landmarks. If I am correct, those pieces will be quite valuable in a few years. If I am wrong, I just lost 50 GB pounds ;-)
I look forward to hearing about the issue of that feud !

Hello Cartrain. Interesting new moniker you have.

As we have now established that cartrain went into a public art gallery and stole part of an exhibit is it reasonable to refer to cartrain as a thief? For example, asking the question " Is there any update on the court proceedings regarding the thief, cartrain?" or " Has the thief cartrain produced any new publicity recently?" etc...

Its Tom and his wife isnt it?, i seem to remember him posting a picture of their new baby not that long ago?, if i have totally got that wrong then apols..

I have just ran an IP search and this account is not connected to Cartrain. The IP location is France, and that makes sense seeing as in his other posts he says about how he is from Paris.

Might be worth apologizing to him Thanks!

Agree its not him

Of course it's not me. Stop the paranoia. I use my real name as a pseudo. I have my own artist website www.cedricmnich.com

Besides, Elwheel was the only one to reply to my first post ever on that forum just saying "No thanks" in French :

urbanartassociation.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=artwork&thread=37498&page=1#532232

Had he checked my profile before saying nonsense...

I hope all members here are not as rude and paranoid :-)

Cedric, i've seen your work before and you aint Cartrain thats for sure!

love the money art you have on your site man, tidy.

You forgot this Silks

Hi Silky, it's ok don't worry :-) Let's not start a new 100 years French/Brit War LOL

Cedric

If you was Cartrain why would you have wasted your time on producing a load of amateur looking copied shit, when the stuff under your own (real) name is far superior to anything Cartrain has stolen (mentally and physically).

Keep up the good stuff.

Uh thanks guys, good to know some people around here appreciate it (me too I was already told my art was s**t) !

No wonder some people still think Elvis aint dead.

Theres some SERIOUS paranoid conspiracy theorists out here!

100% sure that Elvis is not dead , My Anties mothers Sisters next door neighbours daughter see him in a tesco on the Isle of Sheppey, (there are other supermarkets avaliable)

Hi Elwheel,

No problem, thank you for your message and apologies. Let's forget it and shake hands ;-)
Actually my post did not intend to promote Cartrain's art. All the buzz around it already does it perfectly (I'm a living proof of it as I purchased a piece after reading about that story 3 times and came here to discuss it). I already wanted to buy one several days ago but it was apparently not for sale anymore for legal reasons. I still don't know why it's back for sale.
I bought a ransom print simply because I think it could be some worthy investment in the future.
I think we shall not forget that some artists first made pieces which were very common in their beginnings, copied their masters, sometimes criticized and later became major pieces simply because the artist became popular or famous years later.
Just think about Shepard Fairey or Banksy : I guess you would not have given a s**t about what they did first (Banksy's first stencil or Shep's first sticker). I guess they are really valuable today. But everybody thought it was s**t at the time. Look at Andre Giant, after all it's a poor photocopy of Andre the wrestler. Who could have ever predicted that its author would make a portrait of a President of the USA 20 yrs later, now an official one at the National Gallery of the US presidents
So don't be too hard on Cartrain, his theft was a very efficient publicity action (which might cost him a few ££££ !!!) for him despite it was clearly a legally reprehensible action. He's young, chose renowned artists for his inspiration, maybe in the future his own style will be recognized, who knows.
I made a bet and it could take years before I know if I wasted 50 pounds or bought a 100-bagger lol