French photographer Patrick Kariu (Patrick Cariou) sued the famous artist Richard Prince (Richard Prince), accusing him of copyright infringement. At the end of last year in the New York gallery Gagosyana Larry (Larry Gagosian) the exhibition of new works under the name Prince Canal Zone ( «zone of the Panama Canal»), which exhibited paintings depicting Jamaican rastafarian. To create these works the artist used a photo from the book Kariu Yes Rasta, published in 2000.

The Art of Richard Prince called apropriatsionizmom (Appropriation Art). This means that in his work, he openly borrows others' ideas and images. Prince was famous in the 1980's, his series of photographs «cowboys», for which he has used the magazine advertising of cigarettes with the image of «Marlborough-Manx». Thus, over the way he sneered «this American male».

The most famous works of Prince, no doubt, are the paintings from the series «nurses», which brings millions of dollars at auctions. The source of inspiration for their creation as the most popular cover in the 1960's tabloid novels about nurses. Prince is not just redraw the cover, but «creatively reshaped» them - as a result of the nurses in his paintings resemble bad ghosts. Some of them depicting threat to dark red or violet background. All the paintings in this series were written the names - «Nurse prevented men», «The nurse abroad», «Nurse-millionersha», etc. One of these paintings, «Sound nurse» (Sonic Nurse), graced the cover of the album well-known rock band Sonic Youth.

For the exhibition «Panama Canal Zone» Prince has created paintings, collages, in which images rastafarian together with pictures of naked women. Figures razrisovany in the style of Willem de Kuninga (Willem de Kooning) and Pablo Picasso (Pablo Picasso). Patrick Kariu argues that in twenty of twenty-two works presented at the exhibition, used photos from his book. He is so easy as Prince is enriched at the expense of others - before the release Yes Rasta, a photographer ten years, traveled to Jamaica and tirelessly documented rastaman local culture, and painter «came to all gotovenkoe», artistically painted strange pictures, and now sells the resulting works for a lot of money. As the lawyers say the photographer, the Prince could show more respect for the creativity of another artist - it Kariu photographed rastafarian not because it received a lucrative commercial job, he put the matter in his life.

In his lawsuit accusing the French photographer, not only Prince, but even Larry Gagosyana as well as the publishing house Rizzoli, which published a catalog of the exhibition. Kariu not just going to recover compensation for moral damage. He wants all the pictures of Prince series «Panama Canal Zone», as well as catalogs and materials used in the manufacture of works have been destroyed or at least sent to the warehouse, where they will never see one.

This is not the first time, when Richard Prince blamed for using other people's photos. In the 1980's, photographer Gary Gross (Garry Gross) accused him of using his image poluobnazhennoy actress Brooke Shields (Brooke Shields) to work «Spiritual America» (1983). The dispute was settled without trial. And in 1990 the artist frequently have sued the authors of cowboys photographs, very similar to prinsovskih «Marlborough-Menov». Himself a painter said that he «is working without a work permit». His art makes people think about those who belong to the laurels of the creator of the images in paintings. Should there be a real author of the Prince, if only that it solves - so under what «sauce» submit someone else's creative products of the mind? .. Significantly, the article for the exhibition catalog «Panama Canal Zone» written by none other than James Frey (James Frey), the author of scandalous book «Million fragments». Initially, this work intended as a book of memoirs, but later turned out that almost all the memories in it - a fiction. On the creativity of Freya, and pictures of Prince, bickered, argued and will argue: «What is it - the art or trickery?»

Under American law, «transformation» artist or creative rethinking of one's work is not a violation of copyright. That is, it is likely that Richard Prince won. Precedents of this kind have already been. In 2006, fashion photographer Andrea Blench (Andrea Blanch) sued the artist Jeff Koons (Jeff Koons), accusing him of using the image of women's legs, which she did for the magazine Allure. The judge determined that Koons is not simply appropriated the work Blench, but «converted» it, so the artist was acquitted.

Richard Prince's fourth place ranking in the Top-500 contemporary artists, published in Yearbook Artprice . According to a survey by ArtTactic, Prince is among the artists who are most likely to retain its position in the art market in the next ten years .

Material prepared Yulia Maksimova

Sources: theartnewspaper.com , artinvestment.ru