Tom Wolfe's Back to Blood: The case of an art fair imitating life...
Alice Jones' Arts Diary
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.There’s a fun game of who’s who to be had in the chapter of Tom Wolfe’s Back to Blood set at the opening of Art Basel Miami Beach. Among the “maggots” mobbing the world’s most vulgar art fair, there is one “Harry Goshen”, a tall dealer with grey hair and “eerie pale-grey eyes like the slanted eyes of a husky”.
This “ghostly and sinister” figure with a name that sounds a lot like Larry Gagosian pops up to flog million-dollar pornographic etchings to Fleischmann, a sex addicted billionaire and Flebetnikov, a paunchy oligarch.
The etchings are the work of a certain Jeb Doggs, purveyor of “De-Skilled art” who photographed himself in flagrante with a call girl and then sent the images off to “Dalique” glass to have them made into art.
“He had no hand in making them at all”, Fleischmann’s art adviser explains. “And if he touched the photographs it was just to put them in an envelope and FedEx them to Dalique, although I’m sure he has an assistant to do things like that. No Hands - that’s an important concept now… And there you’ve got the very best, the most contemporary work of the whole rising generation.”
Any resemblance to Jeff Koons and his Made in Heaven series of glassworks featuring him and his pornstar ex-wife La Cicciolina is surely by chance. As for who Fleischmann and Flebetnikov are based on, well, that field is wide open.
Also in the Arts Diary
What M did next: Judi Dench tries cyber-flirting in low-budget indie film
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments