Pud you believe it? Artist sells 96p Christmas puddings for £50
FIRST he sold Margate's award winning golden sand, now Anthony Wait is selling 96p Christmas puddings at his gallery for FIFTY QUID.
The 47-year-old made national headlines after featuring first in the Thanet Times selling pots of Margate sand for £7 from his Margate gallery.
-
Anthony Wait
This time the Broad Street gallery owner spent £57.60 snapping up 60 Tesco Value Christmas puds and now plans to bag them up, sign them and flog them off for £50 a piece.
He said: "I got some very strange looks when I was pushing my trolley around full of Christmas puddings. They asked why I had bought so many and I just told them I had a sweet tooth.
"I really like Christmas puddings. I don't think people will pay £50 to eat my puddings, they will keep them as art.
"Artists such as Banksy and Andy Warhol have painted similar things such as tins of soup. But my work is conceptual. I thought why have it painted when you can have the real thing?"
His summer sand collection has completely sold out despite protests from council officials who said it was illegal for him to sell the golden grains.
Anthony has already managed to shift 10 of his limited edition puddings which contain cider, sultanas, raisins, citrus peel and apple flakes and 64 per cent of your daily sugar intake.
He continued: "I've sold 10 of them already. I sold some to a couple from London who said they hadn't seen anything like it and a few of my friends have also bought them. The people from London said they'd read about my sand in a national newspaper which was very flattering and asked if I had any left but unfortunately it has completely sold out."
The artist says people give him ideas of projects all the time but he admits it takes a few months for the ideas to turn into reality.
He added: "I feel that this is value for money in a credit crunch time when every little helps."
Tesco was not available for comment.
What do you think?
Would you spend £50 on a signed 96p Tesco Value Christmas pudding?
Email thom.morris@krnmedia.co.uk.
3 Comments
by Paul Strain, Ramsgate
Friday, November 28 2008, 8:00PM
“Everything that is new in art can get a poor reception, art history shows this. In ten years time when all has been explored Anthony Wait may be seen as origional and a valued artist.. It is good to see that pushing boundaries does not have to take the form of being a victim or being crude like some artists. Anthony Wait's art is in my opinion fun with messages about values has made me think about the society we live. I have seen some of his painting that I also like.”
by Sarah, Maidstone
Tuesday, November 25 2008, 9:04PM
“I find Mr Wait's concept lacking a clear aim. Warhol made self-reflexive art that commented on his generation's obssesion with popular images and the regard in which they were held. Both Warhol and Banksy are questioning what is art is, but Mr Wait offers no such comment. I am a great supporter of modern art and teach at an arts university, but in this case I can only see Mr Wait as a money grabber. The people who buy his work are dupes for a cultural con man.”
by chris, margate
Thursday, November 20 2008, 9:25PM
“I think Anthony's ideas are just great, it's good to know there is someone different and willing to explore art that we can talk about and enjoy. I thought his sand art was a great idea, someone clearly going places.”