Ron English Breaks Records in Phillip's Film Auction

Ron English, the Urban Artist known for legitimizing the term 'Popaganda' has made it in the fidgety New York auction market, realizing $31k ($26k hammer + buyer's premium) for his 2009 screenprint of Marilyn Monroe.  At 3pm on June 24th, 2010, I watched online as a series of competing bids drove the price from an opening price of $7,000 (hammer) to a final record auction price of $26k (hammer) a few seconds later. 

Those of us who have been following Ron's work for years can tell you that he's produced far more major works than this ripe pair of Mickeys, so the sky is the limit for the works of this Billboard revolutionary.  Celebrity collectors have added English's works to their collection, and it's a well-known fact that musician Slash has several pieces of Ron's work. 

English's stock is on the rise.  Ron was featured briefly in the movie Exit Through the Gift Shop, a film directed by another artistic rebel, Banksy, the anonymous street artist whose works have sold through Sotheby's and Christie's for millions of pounds.  If you don't know Ron's story, add his documentary 'The Art & Crimes of Ron English" to your Netflix queue.  You won't be disappointed.  Here's a clip of the pre-documentary teaser reel:

Ron's work may have been hiding underneath our noses for a few years, but he's been there.  English was asked to illustrate Morgan Spurlock's eat-em-all hit Supersize me.  And during the HOPE campaign, you might have seen the Abraham Obama image that garnered media attention for morphing our now president into the iconic Honest Abe.  Contemporary art commercialist, Michel Roux, who envisioned Absolut Vodka's famous art campaign has been working with English for years.  Ron joined Motherwell and Warhol in designing his own Absolut ad, then painted the well-known Van Gogh'esque image used to promote Absente around the world.

He's a star, and I wish him well on his already impressive career...I think it's only the beginning.