If the artist enjoys seeing his name in the news, he has reason to jubilate. Earlier this summer, after more than decade at Gagosian, Prince cut ties with the gallery, following increasing tensions surrounding issues of exclusive representation.
According to The Art Newspaper, the artist is now facing another copyright infringement lawsuit. Model and make-up artist Ashley Salazar (@mynxiiwhite) has in fact sued Prince over the artist’s unauthorized re-use of one of her Instagram pictures, which appeared in “New Portraits”, a series of works presented at Gagosian’s outpost on Madison Avenue in 2014 and at the 2015 edition of Frieze New York, where the incriminating shot sold for $90,000, along with other 38 similar pieces.
Prince’s attorneys have always claimed that the artist’s practice is transformative and represents an instance of “fair-use”. It remains to be seen whether Prince will get away with his infamous appropriation practice without the support of Larry Gagosian.
