We’ve heard of people stealing art from galleries, but rarely do we come across artists who hang up their pieces in the same spaces when a guard’s back is turned.
However, that’s exactly what Polish fine art student Andrzej Sobiepan did just before Christmas. Irritated by what he saw as the interminably long wait artists have to endure before galleries see fit to exhibit their work, and inspired by Banksy, he took matters into his own hands, and placed one of his paintings in the National Museum in Wroclaw.
The painting – of a falling acacia leaf - wasn’t noticed for three days, and since his stunt, Sobiepan’s notoriety has grown with TV crews and press flocking to the museum to see what all the fuss is about.
And rather than get all haughty about the brazen act and dump the painting in the bin, museum director Mariusz Hermansdorfer dubbed the incident a ‘witty artistic happening’.
The piece is now hung in the museum’s café where it will reside until being offered for sale at Poland’s largest charity auction this weekend.
Image: AP Photo/Bartlomiej Kudowicz
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