Artist Richard Prince is at the center of controversy for selling other people’s Instagram photos for nearly $90,000 a pop.
His exhibit at Frieze New York called "New Portraits" was extremely successful, selling every portrait but one.
Vulture reports there’s now a copyright debate surrounding the sale of these portraits, which are screenshots of random Instagram users’ photos.
Some of the photos come from porn stars, artists and just attractive women in general. At least one woman whose photo was used reposted the photo of the art gallery and said she would not be taking legal action against Prince.
“Yes, my portrait is currently displayed at the Frieze Gallery in NYC. Yes, it's just a screenshot (not a painting) of my original post,” she wrote. “No, I did not give my permission and yes, the controversial artist Richard Prince put it up anyway. It's already sold ($90K I've been told) during the VIP preview. No, I'm not gonna go after him. And nope, I have no idea who ended up with it! #lifeisstrange #modernart#wannabuyaninstagrampicture.”
Prince has also responded to the criticism on Twitter, making it clear he isn’t bothered by it in the slightest bit.
“Showed some of these comments to my father,” he wrote. “He said, son, remember, U were born in a Zone & me U'r Dad, defoliated jungles. These P's R nuts.”
He added, “Am I bothered by idiots & morons? Naw. Reading the only copy of Ted Kaczynski's auto-biography. Just 1 copy. Now there's a crackpot.”
image via Instagram from Doe Deere
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