Portrait of Steve Jobs by David Datuna
sells for $210,000
Installation “Steve Jobs. Viewpoint of
Millions” became a top sale at
Scope Miami
Portrait
of Steve Jobs created by an American artist David Datuna
was sold for 210,000 USD during an international art
fair Scope Miami, which took place from the 29th
of November until the 4th of December. The
installation by David Datuna became one of the most
expensive works sold at the art fair
this year.
The latest project in the artist’s “Viewpoint of
Millions” series was presented in Miami by Mironova
International Art Group (London-Kiev) in cooperation
with KIWI Arts Group (USA) and Global Art Group (USA).
Earlier this year, a portrait of Vladimir Putin titled
“Putin – Mona Lisa” created by David Datuna was bought
at a closed auction by a renowned Russian businessman
for 200,000 euro during the international Art Moscow
fair which took place in September.
Nic Iljine, Director of Corporate Development in
Guggenheim Museum: "David Datuna's rendering of the
great visionary Steve Jobs, created before the Apple
co-founder recently passed away, is both moving and
intelligently composed as well as being straight to the
point. I would place this work by Datuna right at the
front entrance of Apple's headquarters in Cupertino!"
Tatiana Mironova, gallerist: “We certainly
anticipated that the latest work by David Datuna will be
of great interest to collectors and connoisseurs of
contemporary art. David Datuna is an artist of great
potential and his every new project reveals a new facet
of his unique talent. Pioneering style of Datuna’s art
work is setting new trends in contemporary art.”
The installation “Steve Jobs – Ayn Rand” envisaged and
created by David Datuna in collaboration with a
Chinese-American artist Alex Gufeng Chao belongs to a
series of portraits depicting key personalities of the
present day. The work features a unique technique
perfected by the artist which uses a layer of optical
lenses superimposed over a collage of recurring shaded
portraits.
Under a cascading wall of approximately one thousand
optical lenses,
countless miniature portraits of Ayn Rand, an
internationally renowned philosopher and the architect
of the Objectivism philosophical system, are combined to
produce a compelling depiction of Steve Jobs. Atlas
Shrugged, Rand's best-selling magnum opus which
advocates the core tenets of her philosophy and focuses
on the concept of human achievement cherished by the
modern capitalist society, was one of key literary works
from which Steve Jobs drew inspiration during his life.
By combining the two personalities of great stature and
undoubtedly influence, Datuna’s installation draws
parallels between Ayn Rand and Steve Jobs while
highlighting at times contradictory attitudes toward
their respective work and accomplishments.
Through his latest artwork David Datuna attempts to
assess the role of Steve Jobs’ personality and his
impact on contemporary world. Despite armies of loyal
fans around the globe, many consider Jobs and his
‘empire’ an embodiment of corporate evil that has
befallen the modern society. Such polarity of viewpoints
is conveyed by the author through the combined use of
positive and negative optical lenses. The artist avoids
casting judgment on Steve Jobs and his personality. By
only using the penetrating gaze of the subject of his
artwork, Datuna tries to get to the very soul of Steve
Jobs and reveal his motivations in life.
ABOUT MIRONOVA GALLERY:
Mironova Gallery
(Kiev, Ukraine) works in accordance with the best
international practices in the field of Contemporary
Art. The Gallery draws upon the experience of the
leading global art institutions and creates its own
methods of artistic development. The Gallery’s mission
is to represent, on a truly global scale, the very best
of what international Contemporary Art has to offer.
Tatiana Mironova, the Gallery’s founder, is convinced
that art has no borders and that the future of
Contemporary Art is in its globalization. The Gallery
cooperates with the leading world artists (Roger Ballen,
Damian Loeb, David Datuna) and renowned Ukrainian
artists (Oksana Mas, Arsen Savadov, Anatoliy Krivolap,
Oleg Kulik). Mironova Gallery regularly participates in
international art fairs (Scope Art Basel, Scope Art
Miami, Art Monaco, Art Hamptons, Art Houston, Art Moscow
and others).