‘original’ copies

Art factories in China aren’t news to me, but this really blew my mind:

There are no sticky ethical problems involved in the booming trade. As long as the Dafen copy artist does not forge a signature or try to pass her work off as an original, there are no legal implications.

Please read Masters of imitation – Painters in Dafen artist colony churn out reproductions of classics, by Aileen McCabe for the Vancouver Sun.

Are you as disturbed by this as I am? Of course, one can go to any art museum and poster shop and get mass printed copies of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and many other famous works. Is it the same, worse or better? I’m also concerned about the factories that do pass off copies of originals, even of works by living artists. Just thinking about all this opens a large mental can of worms for me – perhaps that’s the intent of the article?

July 22, 2010 in Being an Artist, Concepts by Marja-Leena