Chris Burden's art show delayed due to lack of gold

Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills announced today that Saturday's opening of a new work by Chris Burden, "One Ton, One Kilo," has been postponed indefinitely while the search continues for 220 pounds -- or about $3.3 million worth -- of gold bars needed to assemble the piece.

As we reported Monday, the stash Gagosian and Burden had secured for the exhibition got caught up in a civil action that federal authorities have brought against alleged Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford. His assets, including Stanford Coins and Bullion, the company that sold Gagosian the required gold, have been frozen by court order.

"We're working on securing the gold we need for the exhibition," Michelle Pobar, a Gagosian spokeswoman, told Culture Monster today. "We are hopeful to open within a week or two, so please stay tuned."

Read the official notice of the opening's cancellation here.

-- Mike Boehm

Photo: Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[Rich]

A real artist would have put some effort into creating imitation gold bars that look so real the viewer couldn't tell they weren't. If art isn't all technique any more, it's still at least a little bit about technique. Bring on the papier mache bullion--or wait, maybe bouillon bullion...

[Gabriel Craig]

I find it quite hilarious that the recession is even affecting a conceptual artist. A testament to just how integrated art and the economy are. As for using something other than bullion...No way.

Materials have meaning, and something that is meant to look like something else changes the meaning completely. Tofu can substitute for chicken, but it is certainly not chicken. By insisting that the work actually be made of bullion, Burden shows something that R. Allen Stanford does not...integrity.