"Any Similarity is Coincidental"

"This is an artwork by Richard Prince. Any similarity to a book is coincidental and not intended by the artist."

Copyright-wronging contemporary artist Richard Prince features the above disclaimer on his controversial "sculpture," a precise facsimile edition of J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, with the attribution, "a novel by Richard Prince."

Bob Nickas, art critic and curator who visits on Monday, March 26th, writes about Prince and Salinger, their respective works of art and their various legal battles, in Vice.

Read More......

What is Theft? What is Art? What is Theft of Art?

"Is there anything worse than being sued? How about being sued and losing. No, even worse than that. What about never having the chance to sue someone? Exactly. Because the way it used to be, the worst that could happen was that someone took your work away from you, and then profited at your expense. Nowadays, if your career could use a real boost, you can't ask for a more golden opportunity than the chance to take someone to court."

Bob Nickas, art critic and curator who visits Monday 3/26, talks on Vice.com about the lawsuit of French photographer Peter Cariou against artist Richard Prince, which the New York Times has called "one of the most closely watched copyright cases ever to rattle the world of fine art."

Nickas writes a regular column for Vice: "KOMP-LAINT DEPT." Read more.

Photo: Prince's collage "Inquisition" which appropriates and alters Cariou's photographs of Rastafarians.

Read More......