The EDM Instagram Pics We’d Steal If We Were Richard Prince
So if you haven't heard by now, there's a painter and photographer named Richard Prince who's been pissing a lot of people off by screen-shotting Instagram users' photos and selling them as art pieces for high prices. As part of his new collection titled "New Portraits," Prince takes screenshots of primarily women from the widely-used social media platform and blows them up to 6-foot-tall inkjet prints, most of which he is selling for $90,000, all without the users' permission.
The Instagram users' whose pictures are being used are understandably upset with Prince's use of these photos. However, his use of these photos is completely legal due to the flexibility of copyright laws. Because these "works of art" are actually slightly altered with different captions and comments, they are considered "transformative" pieces. Washington Post reported that the New York City-based artist has been creating pieces like these since 1970's — something that has also landed Prince in court for a legal proceeding on copyright infringement that he ultimately won in an appeal. So while his work has been received with much criticism and controversy, it's all legit (and not in the "cool" sense).
While we do not share Prince's affinity for random women's Instagram photos, we do agree that Instagram screenshots would make some great additions to your art collection (if reasonably priced, of course). If we were to open our own "New Portraits" exhibit, these are the EDM Instagram uploads that we would include. Check out the gallery above, and we'll start the bidding at $90,001.