Reception and Sale, featuring live music by The Spent .50s,
The Vignettes, and Ghostface Cow – Admission is free!
February 28, 2009 from 6:30 – 10 pm
NAME YOUR OWN PRICE at or above the FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE, and take home an original painting at the end of the night.
Is a painting worth more than a hamburger? Should it be? Does the artist deserve any additional compensation for his or her ideas–above and beyond the value of their time and the price of raw materials?
For one night only, the Minneapolis-based artist Lizardman (Matt Wells) will be exhibiting 40 paintings in conjunction with a sale at the Stevens Square Center for the Arts. Participants are encouraged to purchase the artwork on the spot—for whatever they think that the paintings are actually worth—provided that the final sales price is no less than the Federal Minimum Wage.
Working like an industrial art factory, Wells has churned-out dozens of one-hour paintings, at a price that working people can actually afford: the current Minimum Wage.
When Congress enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, it effectively banned child labor, and established the first nationwide minimum wage. The Federal Minimum Wage peaked 40 years ago (when unskilled workers earned the equivalent of $10.11 an hour in today’s dollars). Since then, American wages have failed to keep pace with inflation. For ten years, the Federal Minimum Wage saw no increase. While the price of gas shot up to $4 a gallon, the minimum wage remained constant at just $5.15 an hour. Even now, the minimum wage is only $6.55.
Coming at a time when many Americans have been forced to tighten their belts, Wells’ “Minimum Wage” installation challenges us to reconsider the value of hourly work, and what constitutes “fair pay” (or a livable wage). How much value do we attach to the creative process? How much of the sale price is based on irrational market forces? And how much of the value of a painting is intrinsic in the actual work?
In the Western art tradition, paintings are treated as something unapproachable and untouchable. “Minimum Wage” turns this equation on its head, inviting the audience to interact directly with the artwork while it’s still hanging on the walls. The ultimate goal of this exhibit is to have an empty gallery by the end of the night. But in order to do that, the viewers must become active participants.
It is that populist spirit that informs “Minimum Wage,” an art sale that seeks to level the playing field.
All artwork will be sold during the course of the evening on a first-come, first-serve basis.
A reception and silent auction will take place on February 28, 2009. There will be live music by The Spent .50’s, The Vignettes, and Ghostface Cow.
