Splendorous Array of 20th / 21st Century Paintings Offered in Bunch Contemporary Art Auction
Press Release - May 25, 2020
CHADDS FORD, Pennsylvania (May 26, 2020) — Bunch Auctions’ June 30 20th & 21st Century Contemporary Art Auction in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania draws together a remarkable selection of paintings, drawings, sculpture & media art by influential contemporary artists. The 278 lot sale is comprised exclusively from two private collections, and offers an eclectic variety of American, European, and South Asian works.
The headliner of the auction, Nina Chanel Abney’s Untitled (Black Soap), comes from the noted collector of American Maximalism, Stephen Heighton. Heighton (d 2010) was the co-founding pioneer of some of New York City’s most iconic queer hotspots including Barracuda, Elmo, and Industry. He was also a prolific collector and curated several Manhattan gallery exhibitions of emerging art. His collections showcase recurrent themes of sexuality and sexism, along with the history and perceptions of race.
Nina Chanel Abney’s Untitled (Black Soap) (estimate: $150,000 - 300,000) is a colossal 19 foot triptych, and was the first Abney piece ever sold in a gallery. In a 2009 interview for Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, Stephen Heighton described it as “the most politically charged work she’s ever done. She depicts white people washing themselves with black soap to atone for their guilt over slavery.” The painting was included in the exhibition "Pink Polemic" at the Kravets Wehby Gallery, June 28-August 21, 2007. (Untitled, 2007, Acrylic on canvas, Triptych 64 x 229”)
The sale features two other Nina Chanel Abney paintings from the Heighton collection. Brothers in Blood (estimate: $30,000 - 60,000), depicts a young gang member alongside his two canine companions. He has a ‘187’ tattoo on his arm, representative of Section 187 of California’s penial code defining the crime of murder. Just So (estimate: $6,000 - 12,000), depicts an African-American woman alongside an American flag and a cross. Like many of her other works, it carries political, racial, and religious undertones.
A fine work by the Brooklyn-based artist Eddie Martinez (b 1977), is another standout highlight of Heighton’s offerings. Voluptuoso Plant (estimate: $40,000 - 80,000) depicts a full planter of flowers, painted in Martinez’s distinct semi-abstractionist style. The piece is lively and raw, applying a bold use of color and texture by use of oil, acrylic and enamel elements. Teetering between abstraction and representation, his expressionist techniques are reminiscent of his earlier dabblings in graffiti and street art.