bobbycaputo:

‘Real Fake Art’: Portraits of China’s Copy Artists

The art of copying famous artwork and hawking it online has become a multi-million dollar business for Chinese copy artists who blatantly rip off copyrighted work and sell it for pennies on the dollar to customers worldwide. Hong Kong-based photographer Michael Wolf‘s Real Fake Art is a discombobulating series of portraits of some of these copy artists posing with their handiwork in the city streets. Seeing these familiar images out of a museum or gallery context is jarring, at the very least. This juxtaposition is, at first, amusing, but this is an industry that earns $60 billion annually and churns these copies out like a factory assembly line. They rip off not only mega-famous artworks—of work both in and out of copyright—but also works by living, lesser-known artists who are more dependent on sales of artwork to support their livelihood.  Of course, the masterminds behind this mega-industry know it is impossible for smaller, independent artists to lawyer up and chase them down, so they are able to proceed without any deterrent.

(Continue Reading)

(via bobbycaputo)

1. ken19811124 liked this
2. heavywook liked this
3. cronachenoiose reblogged this from bobbycaputo
4. franciscowang liked this
5. colleenaw liked this
6. teefblog liked this
7. documentr liked this
8. theboywiththebeautifulhair liked this
9. blogk reblogged this from bobbycaputo
10. mr-keta reblogged this from 3nding
11. sheshiepie-blog liked this
12. andyvgarcia liked this
13. observedexperience reblogged this from bobbycaputo
14. stormyskiesahead liked this
15. keepinitrealchilli reblogged this from bobbycaputo
16. reallyclippy liked this
17. swiftblog liked this
18. eneptune liked this
19. miss-boucle reblogged this from bobbycaputo
20. popculturebrain liked this
21. herblondness liked this
22. 3nding reblogged this from bobbycaputo
23. hughbot liked this
24. o-zo-ne reblogged this from bobbycaputo
25. canipetthatdog liked this
26. bobbycaputo posted this