- Ray Monde
An unexpected three-way.
This week I had an unexpected three-way. Summer is here, temperatures are rising and people are emerging from lock-downs around the country.
Everyone is embracing their new found freedom. (Perhaps too enthusiastically, with COVID-19 infections spiking around the United States.)
Lucky for me, my three way, was totally about art. At a safe distance.
First, Saatchi Art hooked someone up with this piece.
This work was one of ten pieces I made for The Other Art Fair Los Angeles which was orignally slated for April 2020. Then it got pushed to August because of the novel coronavirus and now September.
The lovely folk at Saatchi Art were proactive and set up Online Studios to showcase the artwork. And bingo! This curious dude was on his way to Oregon. You can see the rest of the artwork here on Saatchi Art.
Next; no keys in a bowl, definitely no swinging.
Next up, this work found a new home. The artwork was always so controversial when I exhibited it. Something about the rope and the angle of the feet immediately made people think of a hanging.
If you look closely, there’s a hand holding onto the branch with a lit cigarette. For me, the narrative around this piece was about revisiting childhood places. A reflective work. Some people couldn’t even look at it. So I was totally chuffed when it found an art lover’s home in Sydney.
And then this, the third, makes three.
Shipping works from Washington State, USA to New South Wales, Australia has been taking forever. One package I sent on 1 April 2020 only arrived at its destination on 6 July 2020. That’s over three months. I can only assume COVID-19 meant a backlog in customs.
I was so excited when this commission arrived just 3 days before the 10 year anniversary that it was commissioned for!
Three hook-ups, a good week for art lovers.
When things come together, it’s a really good feeling. To sell three artworks in one week without an exhibition, is a rare, serendipitous moment for me.
To sell three artworks in one week when the world is facing it’s greatest financial crisis, that makes me feel that everything is going to be alright.