A series of ‘video portraits’ of Lady Gaga raised over $1 million at auction over the weekend.
Avant-garde director Robert Wilson showcased his ’23 Video Portraits of Lady Gaga’ series at his annual Watermill Center gala in the Hamptons at the weekend, and the controversial images – which included the ‘Born this Way’ singer as a beheaded John the Baptist and hanging tied-up and naked upside-down – were then sold off.
Guests at the gala included Kim Cattrall, Jay McInerney, Philip Glass and Lisa Anastos, and as well as the Gaga-themed showcase, they also enjoyed an after-party featuring a woman singing opera from a hole in the ground, naked performance artists roaming through the venue and director Jim Jarmush playing guitar, the New York Post newspaper reports.
The ’23 Video Portraits of Lady Gaga’ – which was first shown at Paris’ Louvre in November – saw Robert place the eccentric singer into several familiar paintings, replacing the original subjects.
Among the classic works of art he paid homage to were Jacques-Louis David’s ;The Death of Marat’ and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’s ‘Portrait of Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière’.
The director recently spoke of his awe in the ‘Poker Face’ singer for her "perfectionist" attitude and stunning "inner concentration".
He said: "An artist I’ve been dazzled by recently is Lady Gaga. She is highly disciplined and a perfectionist, and she has an inner concentration and beauty.
"She also speaks text brilliantly; her diction is perfect. I had her read text of the Marquis de Sade. She asked me how to do it, and I said, ‘Fast, with 20 repeats of this line, five repeats of that.’ Her ability to count and speak rapidly is astonishing."
The work will be displayed at the centre until September 14.
Lady Gaga portraits auctioned
