Okay, so Andrew Krasnow is an ‘artist’ whose medium is human skin.
His ‘work’ is made from the skin of White men who have donated their bodies to science. Apparently, the left over skin can be purchased at auction. Eoow.
Anyway, Krasnow’s ‘work’ is controversial. But it will be on exhibit in July at the GV Art gallery in London. I’m sure there will be quite a turn-out. The gallery owner notes that Andrew “uses skin to make the point that suffering is universal. It is tanned using the same process that you’d use for an animal skin.”
Krasnow says his work represents his opposition to war and bla bla bla. He also makes lampshades out of skin, to make the statement that bla bla bla. Yep, lampshades.
Can we all agree that Andrew Krasnow is a fucking cunt?
~
On the subject of human skin, but this time involving Actual Art, tonight I saw the French horror film Eyes Without a Face for the first time. If there’s anyone left who hasn’t seen it yet, let me say that it lives up to its reputation. Shocking, haunting and poetic, it also nearly made me throw up. Don’t watch it right after dinner.
In art jargon using exact human body parts equals lack of real inspiration.
Just like when stand-up comedian uses too many sex jokes.
On the note of sustainability, the concept might work, we die all the time.
But, would you wear shoes or a jacket of human leather?
This is utterly revolting, and IMHO has nothing to do with art. I bet he knows about the nazis making lampshades out of the skin of their victims in the 1940s, and does this nonetheless. What a fucktard.
Lampshades? Dude, weren’t they hip in, like, the 1940’s Buchenwald? Ilse Koch should sue this copy cat.
Any ways, Mr K should team up with this battery guy I saw on tv. His piece is made of dead batteries collected from car crashes.
Empty. Batteries. Dead. We will all die.
Krasnow and the battery artist would make strong statements together.
That guy’s watched Silence of Lambs one too many times.
Oh I have never seen this film of which you speak. Must see if the pathetically teeny World Film section of my local Blockbuster has it. Always on the look out for a good scary film. Thanks or the tip Sister!
People like that scare the shit out of me.
He needs to add some color to all that!
http://www.benhills.com/articles/articles/JPN37a.html
Sadly he will justify his work by the reaction he gets to it
gross
See, I’m not pissed off or horrified by it. I just think he’s a pretentious idiot. Ooooh, look at the freak! He’s so edgy! What a renegade, boundary-pushing maverick!!! He might even be the next Mapplethorpe!
In this completely desensitized world we live in, one of the few ways to garner any attention is controversy. And what could possibly be more controversial than duplicating Nazi experiments and calling it art? This guy just wants his 15 minutes. I have no interest in getting sucked into his obvious attempts at mindfucking the world.
Next please.
Haha, I said “maverick.”
yes, cunt
Yes, I agree Krasnow is a fucking cunt . . . erm . . . prick . . . dick . . .
Did he wake up one morning, pleased that the proverbial light bulb went on (maybe off) over his head, thinking, “Aha, I’m going to use human organs (skin being the largest human organ) to make “art”?”
Yuck!
I can’t even get into the mind set of actually looking for/buying/working with human skin, let alone displaying it and being proud of it.
Double yuck!
. . . it must be for sale, so who would buy it and why?
Just plain tasteless.
Just because it is possible to think something up doesn’t make it art. I once considered making a piece of jewelry out of the baby teeth of my children. That would have been weird kitsch, not art. (We used the teeth in a science experiment instead.)
To make it “art,” I would have had to go on and on about how their baby teeth fell quite naturally out of their little white male heads, and one of them even has blue eyes and blah blah blah – NOT ART. Even with a pathetic description.
This Nazi-invoking guy is weird and wrong. I much prefer the woman who makes stuff out of dryer lint.
If he wants to show us all about suffering, why doesn’t he use some of his own skin? I know the perfect place he could take it from, too, except there probably wouldn’t be enough of it to do much of anything with, ha ha…
Hey, can I still play here even though I’m not so much into fashion? I do like those big fat wedges, though. Great place to stash an emergency Snickers or something.
Agreed!
dust – I might if it were made of Andrew Krasnow.
Stella Mayfair – Yes, a cunt and fucktard.
Juri – You always have the bet ideas.
Queen Michelle -Maybe you can see it online somewhere? It’s from 1960.
Jill – I forgot to be scared! I was too pissed off.
ASh – Oh jesus h christ!!!!!!!!
sg – Yep, as though provoking shock is art.
Angie. Yes.
Honeypants – Yeah, he’s probably just mad that someone else already canned and sold his own shit as Art.
Mark – Fucking cunt.
Deni -Prick is good.
Bex- At the very least!
WCGB – Actually, I had one of my kid’s baby teeth set in gold and I wear it on a hoop earring. But it’s not art. I like the lint woman too.
Bevitron – Please do play here, we need you!
fashion herald – Yay, sorry if I made you sick again. xo
I’m scared and your pissed. I’d be the first chick getting killed in the “teens fucking” horror movie ala Friday the 13th. You would be the brave heroine last one standing dragging the crazy killers decapitated head behind you!
Horrifying and stupid.
There is one exception in which Andrew’s lampshades would make sense.
If he could trick Gwyneth Paltrow into buying one of them ( they are not of animal origin), he would be cool kid again!
IT PUTS THE LOTION IN THE BASKET!!!
It reminds me of Silent Hill, only douchey-er
Millions in prison.
legalised torture.
human skin lampshades.
Soon the statue of liberty will say ‘arbeit macht frei’
Yep a C – totally
How funny to find this here. Andy’s actually a distant acquaintance.
While I’m not going to get embroiled in the topic of what constitutes art or not, OR whether or not he’s a cunt, I would like to add something to the discussion centered around allusions to the Holocaust in his work. I find this aspect interesting and pertinent, since Andy’s heritage is Jewish. The other point is that he has, in fact, used his own skin. I think it’s a part of the US map piece. It was a large diamond shaped section from the side waist, surgically removed under a local.
He is a fucking cunt.
Fact.
Bevitron, what an EXCELLENT point, this guy should do a Sebastian Horsley, and crucify himself. In the name of art, natch.
I just typed in “im A fucking cunt “in goggle and this bollick came up , deary me .while im here i may as well coment. texterile yes , brilliant one ponders . its only skin deep. should i be shocked ,once again its only skin deep .leather comes to mind ,could he cover a couch oran ottoman and that might freak me out but no more than eating ox tonue while thinking of french kissing .bla
i gogled it i found it so he,s defo a cunt
cunt cunt CUNT CUNT CUNTY CUNT CUNT
ON THE TOPIC OF CUNT , check out scorpio/scorpio video clip copper staring laura of Kunt fame .brilliant
two things… first he doesn’t make lampshades out of human skin…the lamps are without lampshades.. the point is in their absence…
secondly, he does use some of his own skin in the works…
i think you’re missing the point… he’s a Jewish American.. he and his family have more experience about the Nazi horrors than some of the people dismissing his work…
The works about suffering..that we all feel pain in the same way! Get it?
cunt. What an interesting word. I was Googling feminist cunt art when I came across this blog. No, Krasnow never made lampshades of human skin, and no, the artist never bought the skin at auction. Dude, get your facts straight before blogging about stuff you don’t know. Guess you’re not hip to art magazines or even The Art Newspaper (a London paper by the way). And no, his skin works are not for sale. But if you’re mad, good for you. His work provoked you to feel something, something you may not ever understand, but you felt that something. Think about why it does. Think how it has taken on a new life form itself, how something once alive, has taken on a new life form. A symbol of what was, that now is. The idea is to get you to think. Not everyone understands art. Why did Chris Burden have himself shot? Why did Orlan have 9 surgeries to recreate herself as living art? Why does Paul McCarthy like using ketchup in performance art? Not everyone is meant to understand art. If they did, there wouldn’t be such a thing as blue chip art.
This is obviously a pretty biased piece of information on his show, what his intentions are, yadda yadda. Perhaps the persons leaving ignorant comments should do a little research before posting hate into the collective consciousness.
http://www.krasnow.net/early_int.html
I want to stand up in defense of Andrew Krasnow and explain that what he does has so many layers of meaning that are just as layered as the depths of the ocean. If you knew his bio, you would understand the great travesties that have consumed him; horrors so great that scarred his developing heart and psyche and the personal losses which have consumed him. Just as many posters react violently to the skin art, it is his use of this medium, in which he too expresses the mourning of our sacred, layered humanity.
Krasnow is an extremely quiet, unbelievably soft-spoken man who is non-assuming, non-hardened, and whose soul is self-questioning, ever self-searching, ever mindful of the pains, hurts and tribulations that humanity is subjected to on a daily basis. Andrew Krasnow is deeply introspective, wholly respectful and ever questioning, searching, processing LOSS and how it shapes and deforms us forever more.
Krasnow is a meek, reverent, gentle, unassuming artist whose work speaks for itself in the outcries of voices everywhere…this blog included. Powerful, indeed.
You are all nuts that believe any crap u read & can’t think 4 urselfs…………
This page should b 4gotten & deleted 2 prevent wasted energy 2 host this cyber space shit
Echoes of the rhetoric that Hitler and the gang used to denigrate the so-called ‘Degenerate Art’ of some of the early modernists (i.e. picasso etc) because they didn’t understand art that was created in dissent or reaction – or why they wouldn’t want to paint lifelike scenes which celebrated the heroes of a genocidal plutocracy.
It’s unfortunate to see so many people with such unbelievably ‘unsophisticated’ takes on visual representation. Because a piece of sculpture, a painting, a poem or a piece of music makes reference to something unpleasant – does not mean that it’s author condones associations that you make with it. This is the same logic that results in things like the ‘Spanish Inquisition’, ‘Witch burning’, bigotry, slavery and genocide and it should not be tolerated.
I happen to know (have known? knew?) Andrew for a few years. First thing I thought of when I found out what he did? “Hello Clarice….” Turns out he’s just a deep thinking, sweet guy who maybe is just a tad nuts, but in a lovable way.
In any case, I got over my ignorance-induced horror and listened to the “why” of it and it made a difference.
That being said, I’m a brazen coffee swilling chain smoking ny bitch with nothing better to do than occasionally troll online for bizarre articles about people I know and after coming across this, all I can say is this: Shut yer cockholes. If you don’t get it, that’s all fine and danderiffic, but at least admit you don’t get it and try to get information.
Or, you can just watch Jerry Springer reruns. I’m sure you find that more edifying.
Mrs. H – Anyone who uses the phrase “that being said” automatically loses my interest and respect. Shut er own cockhole, how’s that?
Sissy …. hate to break the bad news to you, but I couldn’t give two shits what you find interesting.
Ms. H – Good to know, xo
“If he wants to show us all about suffering, why doesn’t he use some of his own skin”
The 17th star in ’48 Star Flag’ is indeed made of his own skin.
MissC – Cool.
I actually find most of the comments about this vastly more appalling than the art itself. He’s using skin…what’s wrong with that? He didn’t kill anyone or (to the extent of my knowledge) do anything illegal to obtain it. Sure, it’s a little macabre, but no more-so than wearing leather, eating meat, or taxidermy. Just because you don’t understand what he’s trying to convey, or find it “tasteless,” doesn’t give you the right the criticize or say derogatory things about him.
Those that are shocked and disgusted by something against the norm and what society considers acceptable, I believe very strongly, would have been the people in WWII Germany, either accepting or even committing the atrocities that the Nazis were guilty of (because they were following the norm and sticking to what they were told was acceptable).
“Millions in prison. legalised torture. human skin lampshades. Soon the statue of liberty will say: ‘arbeit macht frei'” I think you have more to fear from the plague of ignorance and herd mentality in America than lampshades. If you ask me, he’s a more decent human being than most of the people who’ve commented because he’s at least exercising his freedom of thought and dares to pursue something (his artistic ideal) regardless of how society views it.
Annon – First you say we have no right to criticize him, then you endorse freedom of expression. If your argument were at least consistent, it would have more weight.
Sister – Thank you for your feedback :]
That’s true, but I wasn’t trying to condemn criticism per se…but to condemn why it’s being criticized. I support free speech and all, but I think there’s a different between exercising that right, and abusing it…a lot of what was said, I would classify as the latter. I don’t know, maybe my argument is a little hypocritical, but I think it’s somewhat of a “necessary evil” if it will get people – especially those who don’t catch my contradictions – to think a little more and to look at things a little differently.
(I hope I don’t come off as antagonistic. It’s so easy on the internet to inadvertently provoke arguments instead of discussion…for me, at least)
I suppose I shouldn’t be, but I am surprised and upset that people are pouring vitriol on Andrew based on his work as an artist. I don’t particularly care for his sculpture, but that’s a matter of taste. As a person, Andrew is a fascinating man. Others have said it, and it bears repeating. He is soft-spoken, respectful, and generous. His lively intelligence and expansive spirit are perhaps not appreciated except on a personal level. It’s not likely that my opinion will change anyone’s mind, but Andrew deserves better than to be vilified by people that don’t know him.
This board of vitriolic reaction and sexist, denigrating profanity is pathetic. Says more about the audience.
I, too, know Andy from years ago and similarly say that he is a gentle, soft-spoken, and intelligent person. It is also true that he’s Jewish. It is not art intended anti-Semitically, though I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the posters here are attacking him because they are.
I haven’t spoken with him with years, or seen his art since he started making it, but the artist is clearly working from a challenge to our pretended modern values. Exemplified by the self-righteous indignation and “moral outrage” of those who’ve written here.
Art is not always something you want to hang in your living room. It’s about making you think and question the society and world you live in.
Sometimes it should disturb you. And just because it disturbs you, does not mean it was meant to do so, gratuitously. An American flag made out of human skin seems apropos, looking at the history of this country and how it was really built. So does a Confederate flag, like the one still waving at one of the government buildings in (I forget which) southern state.
They should have an art in public places – site specfic exhibition – at that very courthouse or government building. One waving next to the other.
I wish Andrew would create some more art. I like his art. It is not cruel and he does not and did not kill a person to make it.
I have been working with Andrew for more than a year now, and I found him creepy, self-deluting in his abilities and pompous as a sudo-intellectual above the rest of us. He will stand uncomfortably near you and stare at you for no particular reason. Like he wants something from you. I finally Googled him 2 days ago and this is what I found. All this confirms beyond my wildest nightmares that he is a ghoul creep. I hated him before but oh, shit, NOW!
Shall I tell my Boss?