Michael Landy, R.A.
We Leave The Scum No Place To Hide
Found at
Sothebys,
London
Made in Britain / Online, Lot 638
26. Nov - 26. Nov 2018
Made in Britain / Online, Lot 638
26. Nov - 26. Nov 2018
Estimate: XX.XXX
Price realised: XX.XXX
Price realised: XX.XXX
Description
Michael Landy, R.A.
B.1963
WE LEAVE THE SCUM NO PLACE TO HIDE
signed and dated '94'
ink on 4 separate sheets of paper, joined as one
The career of Michael Landy (b.1963) has been driven by a series of notable installations. These have included Market (1990), Closing Down Sale (1992), Scrapheap Services (1996), Break Down (2001) and H2NY (2006), all of which engendered much documentation such as drawings, photographs, publications and videos.
The present work belongs to a group of drawings made in relation to Scrapheap Services, a large-scale installation acquired by Tate in 1997. This was Landy’s most imaginative work in which he invented a waste-disposal firm with the object of cleansing society of undesirable members in a ruthlessly efficient way, while retaining a bright and sunny landscape as its visual logo and smartly uniformed workers. Thousands of cut-out figures (made from
The group of highly detailed ink drawings, recording the work’s evolution and fabrication, remind us in turn of an obsessive ‘mad scientist’, a child’s delight in page-filling and a medieval monk illuminating a manuscript. All combine a comic riff on advertising with mordant social satire. They are unprecedented among works on paper by Landy’s YBA contemporaries.
sheet: 118.5 by 29.5cm.; 46¾ by 11½in.
Thomas Dane, London | Karsten Schubert, London, where acquired by the present owner in 1994-5
B.1963
WE LEAVE THE SCUM NO PLACE TO HIDE
signed and dated '94'
ink on 4 separate sheets of paper, joined as one
The career of Michael Landy (b.1963) has been driven by a series of notable installations. These have included Market (1990), Closing Down Sale (1992), Scrapheap Services (1996), Break Down (2001) and H2NY (2006), all of which engendered much documentation such as drawings, photographs, publications and videos.
The present work belongs to a group of drawings made in relation to Scrapheap Services, a large-scale installation acquired by Tate in 1997. This was Landy’s most imaginative work in which he invented a waste-disposal firm with the object of cleansing society of undesirable members in a ruthlessly efficient way, while retaining a bright and sunny landscape as its visual logo and smartly uniformed workers. Thousands of cut-out figures (made from
The group of highly detailed ink drawings, recording the work’s evolution and fabrication, remind us in turn of an obsessive ‘mad scientist’, a child’s delight in page-filling and a medieval monk illuminating a manuscript. All combine a comic riff on advertising with mordant social satire. They are unprecedented among works on paper by Landy’s YBA contemporaries.
sheet: 118.5 by 29.5cm.; 46¾ by 11½in.
Thomas Dane, London | Karsten Schubert, London, where acquired by the present owner in 1994-5
Upper estimated price slightly exceeded
In November 2018 Sothebys in London held the auction Made in Britain / Online, which included the work We Leave The Scum No Place To Hide by Michael Landy. Here, the upper estimate of GBP 1,800.00 was slightly exceeded - the artwork found a new owner for GBP 1,875.00 (€ 2,114.94). Of course, this price has nothing to do with the top prices that other works by Michael Landy achieve. The highest price we have observed so far was reached by the work H.2.N.Y. Tinguely Machine Erases its own Construction in 27 Minutes in February 2015 with an auction result of GBP 18,750.00 (€ 25,853.47).
Oberer Schätzpreis leicht übertroffen
Im November 2018 führte Sothebys in London die Auktion Made in Britain / Online durch, in der auch die Arbeit We Leave The Scum No Place To Hide von Michael Landy zur Versteigerung kam. Dabei wurde der obere Schätzpreis von GBP 1.800,00 leicht übertroffen – das Kunstwerk fand für GBP 1.875,00 (€ 2.114,94) einen neuen Besitzer. Dieser Preis hat freilich nichts mit den Spitzenpreisen zu tun, die andere Arbeiten von Michael Landy erzielen. Den höchsten von uns bisher beobachteten Preis erreichte die Arbeit H.2.N.Y. Tinguely Machine Erases its own Construction in 27 Minutes im Februar 2015 mit einem Auktionsergebnis von GBP 18.750,00 (€ 25.853,47).
Michael Landy - Auction history
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