Jen and Paul’s One Stop Shopping Souvenir City and Chelsea Bus Tours!

Converted shuttle bus, souvenirs, performance. 2016.

A tongue-in-cheek, slapstick performance of the corporate infleunce over art sales and culture integration, Catron and Outlaw’s double-decker bus tours satirized the misguided interests of mega commercial galleries and the Art Industry as a whole. With snappy commentary on the market, the project highlighted concerns about profit-based decisions made by the gatekeepers of the art world.

Why does white male artwork always sells better? Who truly deserves gallery representation versus who actually gets it? Is mass production of an artistic brand actually good for culture? Guests could hop aboard and ride the hand made double decker bus and enjoy colorful commentary blaring through loud speakers in a guided tour performance throughout the land of blue chip galleries. Riders were able to watch first hand the forced exodus of younger and mid-level galleries as the mega galleries bought up Chelsea property and forced skyrocketing rents that would only become more rampant in the following years as would a reckoning with which artists are being promoted and why.

The first floor of the bus sold “souvenirs” of your favorite blue chip artists, with knock off’s and DIY Kits of the most recognizable repetitive works being created at the time. Full feature in Wall Street Journal Arts, artnet, artinfo, etc.