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Rapper-designer Kanye West has revealed a new exhibition in Los Angeles
The exhibit features a life-like sculpture from the artist's 'Famous' music video which previously stirred controversy
CNN
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This weekend, rapper-fashion-designer Kanye West has added one more hyphen to his introduction, taking on the role of visual artist at Los Angeles gallery Blum & Poe.
For two nights only, West’s extraordinarily lifelike, untitled sculpture of 12 naked celebrities – which initially debuted in his controversial music video “Famous” – lay across an enormous display that almost entirely occupied a gallery room.
Courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles/New York/Tokyo // Photo: Sam Kahn
All 12 bodies lay across a bed, softly expanding and contracting to a score of heavy, peaceful breathing.
When the sculptures were first revealed in West’s music video, an aerial camera panned slowly over each body, from left to right. The mysterious rainbow of fleshtones revealed itself as a procession of major cultural icons: George W. Bush, Anna Wintour, Donald Trump, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Taylor Swift, West, his wife Kim Kardashian West, Ray J (an ex-boyfriend of Kardashian West), Amber Rose (an ex-girlfriend of West), Caitlin Jenner, and Bill Cosby.
Entangled and haphazardly covered in a set of white sheets, the piece borrows its composition from artist Vincent Desiderio’s painting, “Sleep,” which similarly depicts a row of nude, but unknown, sleepers.
Even within the context of gallery walls, the scene was eerily convincing.
West had charged his team at DONDA, the “Content, Experience & Product Company” named after the rapper’s late mother, to create “anatomically correct” representations of each figure, down to the minutest detail.
In their meticulous research on these bodies, a team of dozens consulted celebrity stylists and assessed thousands of images, including the Instagram accounts of obscure ex-lovers.
02:25 - Source: CNN
Kanye West's jaw-dropping moments
After being modeled with various animation, scanning and 3-D softwares, the silicon animatronic bodies were then hand-sculpted.
Freckles and human hairs were applied one-by-one.
Kim Kardashian West even played a role, carving a certain part of her anatomy to just the right size.
The piece is nothing short of impressive, but the backlash, unsurprisingly, has been swift (pun intended). Many online critics have asked, “Is this art?”
Art and perception
“The work alone is extraordinary and completely succeeds as a sculpture and multi-media installation,” says Blum & Poe co-founder Tim Blum, who first met West when the rapper commissioned Takashi Murakami, who is represented by the gallery, for the cover art of his 2007 album “Graduation.”
kanye west and takashi murakami
Kanye West's "Graduation" album cover art was created in collaboration with artist Takashi Murakami
“If you didn’t know that this was a work by Kanye West, and instead was the work of a known artist in the art world, the perception of the piece would be completely different – it would be celebrated and universally supported at the highest level.”
And for others who discredit West for not sculpting it himself?
“Those are people who don’t have a lot of historical background on art,” according to Blum. “I can name you the top 20 artists in the world who don’t actually touch the sculptures being produced, or even the paintings.”
FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images
So much of what hip-hop artist Kanye West does makes headlines -- often with controversy attached. Perhaps it's just the nature of being Kanye. Here are some noteworthy moments from the performer's turbulent life.
Getty Images
February 2016: Kanye offended Taylor Swift and her fans (not for the first time)
when he released a new song, "Famous," in which he croons, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. / Why? I made that bitch famous."
Anthony Harvey/Getty Images
September 2015: West, here with wife Kim Kardashian, asked that concertgoers get to their feet at a show in Sydney. No problem -- until he demanded that some disabled spectators do the same and made snide remarks about a person in a wheelchair.
Courtesy The Recording Academy/CBS
February 2015: In 2009, West interrupted Taylor Swift's speech at the MTV Video Music Awards to say that her video didn't deserve an award. When he approached the stage at the Grammys in February to interrupt Album of the Year winner Beck, it seemed like a joke -- but no, Kanye wasn't joking.
He later apologized.
Juliano/x17
November 2013: Kanye started yet another conversation when he began
using a Confederate flag on some of his new merchandise. By way of explanation, West told Los Angeles radio station
97.1 AMP that observers can "react how you want. Any energy is good energy. You know the Confederate flag represented slavery in a way -- that's my abstract take on what I know about it. So I made the song 'New Slaves.' So I took the Confederate flag and made it my flag. It's my flag. Now what are you going to do?"
Dejan Pralica/@dp16
October 2013: It wouldn't be a 'Ye performance if it didn't have a few special guests. West made sure his "Yeezus" tour would be a topic of conversation when he had a look-alike Jesus appear on stage with him at Seattle's Key Arena on October 19.
Fame Pictures
May 2013: The month of May was one long 'Ye-headline fest, as the artist got into another yelling match with a paparazzo after hitting his head on a sign, announced during a show that he's no "mother*****g celebrity" and then revealed that his next album would be called "Yeezus."
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images/File
February 2013: Soapboxing has been included in the price of admission to Kanye concerts, as the artist has taken various opportunities to get a few things off his chest mid-show. In February, he revealed that he's got "love for Hov but I ain't f*****g with that 'Suit & Tie,' " his friend Jay Z's track with Justin Timberlake. (
The pop singer later hit back at the rapper, coyly rhyming on "Saturday Night Live," "hit's so sick got rappers acting dramatic.")
Fame Pictures
December 2012: Every expectant parent has their own way of breaking the news to loved ones that they're awaiting an addition to the family.
Kanye opted to share the joyous news with concert attendees at his Atlantic City show on December 31, when he encouraged the crowd to "make some noise" for his "baby mama."
Chris Hyde/Getty Images/File
August 2011: Still struggling with a negative public perception,
West told the audience gathered at the UK's Big Chill film festival, "I walk through the hotel and I walk down the street, and people look at me like I'm f****n' insane, like I'm Hitler." That comparison, for obvious reasons, made international headlines.
From YouTube
March 2011: The NSFW album cover for Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" was just the beginning of trouble for the rapper. After fearing censorship over his cover art -- "Banned in the USA!!! They don't want me chilling on the couch with my phoenix!" he tweeted at the time --
there was debate over whether his music video for "Monster" should also be censored, thanks to its depiction of West in bed with two lifeless women, among other controversial images.
Peter Kramer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
November 2010: While gearing up to release "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," West did a promotional appearance on "Today" with Matt Lauer -- one that
quickly turned sour and led to him canceling his performance on the show.
Steve Mack/Getty Images/File
Christopher Polk/Getty Images/File
September 2009: Even with his noted troublemaking at past awards shows, no one -- including West -- had figured out by September 2009 that they weren't the best places for him to hang out. What transpired at the MTV event is one of the most infamous moments in live TV, as he
interrupted Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech for the best female music video.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images/File
September 2008: Yeezy's beef with paparazzi goes way back. For example, in September 2008, West was arrested on felony vandalism charges at Los Angeles International Airport after he
got into a skirmish with two paps and allegedly damaged their cameras.
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images/File
June 2008: Like most with an overwhelming number of strong opinions, Kanye was a natural at blogging on his site, Kanyeunivercity.com. So when he was
booed at 2008's Bonnaroo music festival after showing up late for his set,
the rapper let loose on the fest's organizers via his blog -- in caps lock, of course. "I HAVE A F****** LIGHT SHOW DUMB A**," he said. "IT'S NOT CALLED GLOW IN THE DARK FOR NO REASON SQUID BRAINS!"
Kevin Mazur/WireImage/File
September 2007: Awards shows are such a sticking point for Mr. West. When he lost out on all five of his MTV VMAs and wasn't scheduled to perform on the main stage, which had boasted the likes of Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears,
West threw a fit, threatening not to return to the awards ceremony.
Dave Hogan/Getty Images for MTV/File
November 2006: Kanye really doesn't like losing, and he reminded us of that at the MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2006, when he stage-crashed Justice vs. Simian's best video win for "We Are Your Friends." Clearly, his video "Touch the Sky" should've won because "it cost a million dollars, and Pamela Anderson was in it."
Having a "sippy sippy" pre-awards show might convince one of such merits.
Frank Micelotta/Getty Images/File
From YouTube.com
September 2005: If you didn't know by September 2005 that Kanye is not the type to stick to the script,
he proved it during a relief telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims. Speaking alongside Mike Myers, 'Ye memorably started ad-libbing, leading to a phrase that still hasn't lived down its infamy: "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
Frank Micelotta/Getty Images/File
November 2004: The loss of best new artist to Gretchen Wilson at the American Music Awards turned 'Ye into an outspokenly sore loser. The "College Dropout" artist not only
walked out of the AMAs, he told the press, "I felt like I was definitely robbed. ... I was the best new artist this year."
A source close to DONDA told CNN Style that members of the team, for example, had also worked in the studio of artist Paul McCarthy.
While yet others allege that the piece is a shameless copy of another artist’s work, Desiderio himself (who actually based “Sleep” on the 1943 Jackson Pollock painting “Mural”) says that he’s a fan.
“Kanye turned a mirror onto the wretchedness of self-obsession and solipsistic fame,” Desiderio says, explaining that his own intention had been to critique an unconscious privileged class (and that his version features his wife, too). “He’s trying to work at the highest level artistically, and I admire that. My first take was, ‘How did he get all these people into bed?’”
Last night during the MTV Video Music Awards, where “Famous” had been nominated for Video of the Year, West expounded on the video’s controversy.
“It was an expression of our now, our fame right now, us on the inside of the TV,” he said. “This is fame, bro… We all came over in the same boat and now we all ended up in the same bed.”
Unfortunately for West, he lost the award to Beyoncé.