Article on Jim Davidson Sculpture

[Maxofspades]

Ran across this article thought you might enjoy:

$5,700 sculpture arrives broken, might be fake

Amid a swirling cloud of suspicion, Enumclaw officials scrapped the formal unveiling of the city's latest work of public art.

Entitled “Boys in the Band,” the bronze sculpture has been displayed on the City Hall lawn, pointed toward the intersection of Griffin Avenue and Porter Street, since June. The city's plan was to formally unveil the piece Saturday as the kickoff to Art Walk, a celebration of the arts that delivered a crowd to downtown Enumclaw.

Plans were scuttled, however, when The Seattle Times reported in its Thursday edition that the piece, which cost the city nearly $5,700, might be less than anticipated.

The Times article noted the artist credited with creating “Boys in the Band” may exist only in cyber circles. The name Jim Davidson, etched into Enumclaw's piece, has been linked to counterfeit pieces of art.

In the Times article, the city's cultural programs manager, Gary LaTurner, defended the piece and indicated the city would go ahead with the formal unveiling. By that afternoon, however, the city's stance had shifted dramatically.

In a posting on the city's Web site, Mayor John Wise - himself an artist - said the unveiling was being cancelled. He noted the city would investigate the matter and, if the piece is determined to be counterfeit, “it will be immediately removed and destroyed.”


The posting also noted the newspaper ran its story “without proving or disproving the counterfeiting claim.”

“Boys in the Band” has had a rocky existence. It arrived broken and the city attempted to return the piece, but the online seller, iwishihadthat.com refused to take the piece back. The seller did, however, refund the city $1,000, due to the broken piece.

The sculpture is of three young boys playing musical instruments. Broken was a drumstick in a young drummer's hand. City employees used a strong welding glue to fix the problem.

A Google search of “Jim Davidson sculptor” turned up the following:

€ From the Web site bronzecopyright.com, several postings warn against buying anything with the “Jim Davidson” signature. The repeated warning is that no such artist exists and anything bearing his name is likely in violation of copyright laws. Further, would-be buyers are warned that the pieces may not be made of bronze, as advertised, but are often made from a cheaper metal.

€ Another Web site, artspace2000, has a banner headline reading, “Professional Sculptors are Being Counterfeited.” It warns against cheaply-made pieces bearing “fake artist's names,” and mentions Jim Davidson specifically.

LaTurner said the city was not aware of the Davidson name when the purchase was made. “Boys in the Band” was listed for sale without an artist's credit.


http://images.townnews.com/courierherald.com/content/articles/2007/08/15/news/news1.jpg

[dgm]

I have seen some of the Jim Davidson stuff in person. The pieces arent bad at all for the price. I think the town should have went ahead with there ceremony. Has anyone figuried out yet what it is a forgery of?

[ArtseAnnie]

Update on the Boys in the Band Sculpture:

The "Boys in the Band" is staying put in front of Enumclaw City Hall.

City officials "rigorously researched" and were forwarded an e-mail from someone claiming to be a Thai artist who created the sculpture. That, they say, is proof enough that the work is authentic.

"We're satisfied," Cultural Programs manager Gary LaTurner said. "It's resolved."

Enumclaw officials researched the sculpture's origin on the Internet after questions arose about the artist. The sculpture was signed by Jim Davidson, a name connected to online accusations of bronze-sculpture fraud.

In an e-mail forwarded by James Welch, vice president of the online site where the city bought the sculpture, a man named Sorravut Hattakitkosol says he is the Bangkok-based artist who created the piece under the Western name Jim Davidson.

In the e-mail, filled with grammatical errors and misspellings, Hattakitkosol says his works are exported throughout the world and have been copied in Mexico, China and the United States. He says he doesn't need to show his face to the public and, "Really, I don't care to any words for the 'local art experts' in US (I believe most of then are very narrow thinking and envy)."

City officials say they are confident the e-mail is from the artist. They did not e-mail or attempt to contact the artist directly, City Administrator Mark Bauer said.

The city paid more than $5,000 for the piece, bought to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Enumclaw Arts Commission.

The sculpture arrived broken and wrapped in Asian newspaper. When the city tried to return it, the company, Wishihadthat.com, wouldn't take it back because the return period had expired, Welch said. The company instead credited the city $1,000 and suggested fixing the piece with J-B Weld, a cold-weld compound that can be used to repair metal.

Wishihadthat.com said the sculpture came from home-décor importer Art & Frame Direct in Florida. In an e-mail to Welch, Art & Frame Direct CEO George Eouse said "Davidson" had copied other artists' work early in his career, a common practice in Thailand.

But Eouse said he taught "Davidson" that, in America, he should only sculpt and cast his ideas.

"It was a mistake, and furthermore, restitution was made to the artists who it affected," Eouse wrote in the e-mail. "The copies were destroyed, and Jim never did it again."



The piece purchased by Enumclaw is "a nice item that served its purpose at a fair price by a very good creative living artist," Eouse's e-mail said.

"[Davidson pieces] are great sculptures made affordable for a larger audience by the manufacturing and the cost-effective labor," Eouse wrote.

Two weeks ago, Enumclaw Mayor John Wise canceled an unveiling ceremony and said the city would research the artist.

Although some Enumclaw officials say they are satisfied with the authenticity of the piece, City Councilmember Michael Ennis isn't. He says he doesn't see how an e-mail proves the artist's existence.

"Receiving an e-mail from a guy who claims to be in Thailand claiming to be the artist of the piece seemed kind of sketchy to me," Ennis said.

Experts at the Seattle Art Museum say they wouldn't rely on an e-mail to authenticate an artist or his work. They rely on more extensive research, starting with buying only from reputable and well-known galleries and dealers, said Cara Egan, the museum's communications manager.

"We always need to know the history of the art," Egan said. "Does the seller have a right to sell? That's an important piece of documentation."

If authenticity questions arise, the art museum has a staff of curators who are experts in various art specialties, Egan said.

[Jack Williams]

I have been following this story on another message board. Everyone is shaming these people into removing it from display. Yet not one person has proven that it is a direct copy of any particular sculptor's work. I think the critics need to keep there mouth shut until they can provide some evidence that is was a knock off of a legit artist.

[Impala]

It is proven, that JIM DAVIDSON is a poor worker, working for a Thai foundry. In the name of the foundry he is knocking off many artists world wide. These knock offs are then sold world wide, mainly in the USA, the foundry has even told this fact to the city...
it is a question of time, when the real artist of this sculpture will be found.

It is a shame, that a city buys cheap work from a company, which we have proven of selling knock offs of international artist's and gets cheap copies made of bad metal made in Thailand.
We have proven, that most Thai foundries sell knock-offs from artist's !
But we live in a time, where cheap is all what counts......not real art with quality or originality !