Eric Doeringer
Encyclopedia
Eric Doeringer is an artist currently living and working in Brooklyn
, New York
. He graduated from Brown University
in 1996 with a B.A.
and received an MFA
from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
in 1999. Doeringer is on the faculty at Manhattan's School of Visual Arts
.
and Lisa Yuskavage
. Doeringer reproduces the artworks using "collage, digital photography, paint and varnish". Doeringer can make between six and fifteen paintings each day and told The New York Times
in a 2005 interview that his process is "like an assembly line". On Saturdays beginning in 2001, he set up a vending table in Chelsea, Manhattan
on West 24th Street. Small canvases reproducing contemporary paintings lined the table. Paintings by the original artists (sold within a short walking distance from Doeringer's stand) cost tens of thousands of dollars, while Doeringer's copies sold for less than $100. His total profit in a day of selling paintings has sometimes reached $1500. Time Out stated that Doeringer is "famous for bootlegging art on the streets of New York".
According to Doeringer, the majority of the artists he copies do not mind, while others have sent him cease-and-desist
letters. Richard Prince
was a "fan" of his work, while Takashi Murakami
put a stop to his copies. Doeringer states that his work is fair use
because he "culled the pictures from the public domain of the Internet". In 2005, Chelsea art dealer Mike Weiss called the police to remove Doeringer's Bootleg stand from 24th Street. Weiss told the The New York Times
that "he did so for reasons that might be condemned in the art world but that made perfect sense for any businessman like himself who has to pay a huge rent" and claimed Doeringer was "an opportunist and that he just wants his 15 minutes."
In 2007, Doeringer sold his wares in the Geisai Art Fair in Miami. For the fair, he crafted 42-cent stamps decorated with pictures of celebrities. The stamps, which cost $1, were legally usable as postage and were decorated with photographs of eminent people in the art world. Over his booth, Doeringer placed orange and neon signs that proclaimed "Best Art Deals in Miami" and "Nothing Over $250!" The New York Sun deemed his decorations "a pitch-perfect metamockery of the art fair's commercialism".
by artists like Sol LeWitt
, Lawrence Weiner
, Edward Ruscha
, and On Kawara
. New York
magazine called a 2009 exhibition of Doeringer's Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings "perfectly executed" and "a genuine aesthetic experience, not just a knowing scold."
In 2011, Doeringer exhibited his work at Another Year in L.A.; he titled his exhibition "Eastern Standard Time". In one piece, Doeringer copied Charles Ray
's 1973 avante-garde photograph panorama All My Clothes. Titled All My Clothes (After Charles Ray), Doeringer's photographs each contain himself standing in front of a white background attired in various clothes. In an interview with the LA Weekly
, he said he adapted Ray's general ideas for the artwork, adding that the key distinction between their works is the "East Coast-West Coast divide". Whereas Ray's figure is garbed in a single winter outfit, Doeringer's wears much toastier clothing. Other pieces Doeringer copied and showcased at the Los Angeles exhibition were John Baldessari
's Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line, On Kawara
's I Went, Richard Prince
's Cowboy photographs, and several of Edward Ruscha
's books.
, Doeringer's project "Free Books" involved planting cardboard boxes of free books in four different locations. He removed the final pages of each book to deny the readers from discovering the ending. The Daily Telegraph
speculated about the broader meaning behind his removal of the final pages:
Doeringer later wrote on his website that he appended his name to the "front of each book, as a type of signature", and altered the books to make them into "works of art". He noted that a reader could become annoyed his alterations instead of realizing their artistic worth.
in Manhattan
. He said in a November 2011 interview with the LA Weekly
that enraged people from the audience have accosted him for creating bootleg copies of artists' works.
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He graduated from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1996 with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and received an MFA
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University...
in 1999. Doeringer is on the faculty at Manhattan's School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
.
"Bootleg" Paintings
Eric Doeringer's "Bootlegs" are small copies of work by eminent contemporary artists including Richard PrinceRichard Prince
Richard Prince is an American painter and photographer. Prince began appropriating photographs in 1975...
and Lisa Yuskavage
Lisa Yuskavage
Lisa Yuskavage is a contemporary American painter who lives and works in New York City. Her figurative oil painting is known for its engagement with the female form. Her name is pronounced yus-CAH-vitch....
. Doeringer reproduces the artworks using "collage, digital photography, paint and varnish". Doeringer can make between six and fifteen paintings each day and told The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in a 2005 interview that his process is "like an assembly line". On Saturdays beginning in 2001, he set up a vending table in Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
on West 24th Street. Small canvases reproducing contemporary paintings lined the table. Paintings by the original artists (sold within a short walking distance from Doeringer's stand) cost tens of thousands of dollars, while Doeringer's copies sold for less than $100. His total profit in a day of selling paintings has sometimes reached $1500. Time Out stated that Doeringer is "famous for bootlegging art on the streets of New York".
According to Doeringer, the majority of the artists he copies do not mind, while others have sent him cease-and-desist
Cease and desist
A cease and desist is an order or request to halt an activity and not to take it up again later or else face legal action. The recipient of the cease-and-desist may be an individual or an organization....
letters. Richard Prince
Richard Prince
Richard Prince is an American painter and photographer. Prince began appropriating photographs in 1975...
was a "fan" of his work, while Takashi Murakami
Takashi Murakami
is an internationally prolific contemporary Japanese artist. He works in fine arts media—such as painting and sculpture—as well as what is conventionally considered commercial media —fashion, merchandise, and animation— and is known for blurring the line between high and low art...
put a stop to his copies. Doeringer states that his work is fair use
Fair use
Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders...
because he "culled the pictures from the public domain of the Internet". In 2005, Chelsea art dealer Mike Weiss called the police to remove Doeringer's Bootleg stand from 24th Street. Weiss told the The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
that "he did so for reasons that might be condemned in the art world but that made perfect sense for any businessman like himself who has to pay a huge rent" and claimed Doeringer was "an opportunist and that he just wants his 15 minutes."
In 2007, Doeringer sold his wares in the Geisai Art Fair in Miami. For the fair, he crafted 42-cent stamps decorated with pictures of celebrities. The stamps, which cost $1, were legally usable as postage and were decorated with photographs of eminent people in the art world. Over his booth, Doeringer placed orange and neon signs that proclaimed "Best Art Deals in Miami" and "Nothing Over $250!" The New York Sun deemed his decorations "a pitch-perfect metamockery of the art fair's commercialism".
Conceptual art recreations
In 2008, Doeringer began making larger, more faithful recreations of works of Conceptual artConceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
by artists like Sol LeWitt
Sol LeWitt
Solomon "Sol" LeWitt was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism....
, Lawrence Weiner
Lawrence Weiner
Lawrence Weiner was a central figure in the formation of conceptual art in the 1960s His work often takes the form of typographic texts.- Life and career :...
, Edward Ruscha
Edward Ruscha
Edward Joseph Ruscha IV is an American artist associated with the Pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. Ruscha lives and works in Culver City, California...
, and On Kawara
On Kawara
is a Japanese conceptual artist living in New York City since 1965. He has shown in many solo and group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1976.-Early life:After graduating from Kariya High School in 1951, Kawara moved to Tokyo...
. New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine called a 2009 exhibition of Doeringer's Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings "perfectly executed" and "a genuine aesthetic experience, not just a knowing scold."
In 2011, Doeringer exhibited his work at Another Year in L.A.; he titled his exhibition "Eastern Standard Time". In one piece, Doeringer copied Charles Ray
Charles Ray (artist)
Charles Ray is a Los Angeles-based sculptor. He is known for his strange and enigmatic sculptures that draw the viewer’s perceptual judgments into question in jarring and unexpected ways...
's 1973 avante-garde photograph panorama All My Clothes. Titled All My Clothes (After Charles Ray), Doeringer's photographs each contain himself standing in front of a white background attired in various clothes. In an interview with the LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
, he said he adapted Ray's general ideas for the artwork, adding that the key distinction between their works is the "East Coast-West Coast divide". Whereas Ray's figure is garbed in a single winter outfit, Doeringer's wears much toastier clothing. Other pieces Doeringer copied and showcased at the Los Angeles exhibition were John Baldessari
John Baldessari
John Anthony Baldessari is an American conceptual artist known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images. He lives and works in Santa Monica and Venice, California...
's Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line, On Kawara
On Kawara
is a Japanese conceptual artist living in New York City since 1965. He has shown in many solo and group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1976.-Early life:After graduating from Kariya High School in 1951, Kawara moved to Tokyo...
's I Went, Richard Prince
Richard Prince
Richard Prince is an American painter and photographer. Prince began appropriating photographs in 1975...
's Cowboy photographs, and several of Edward Ruscha
Edward Ruscha
Edward Joseph Ruscha IV is an American artist associated with the Pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. Ruscha lives and works in Culver City, California...
's books.
Art in Odd Places project
During the 2008 Art in Odd PlacesArt in Odd Places
Art in Odd Places is a public artproject based in New York City exploring connections between public spaces, pedestrian traffic, and ephemeral transient interventions.- History :...
, Doeringer's project "Free Books" involved planting cardboard boxes of free books in four different locations. He removed the final pages of each book to deny the readers from discovering the ending. The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
speculated about the broader meaning behind his removal of the final pages:
Doeringer later wrote on his website that he appended his name to the "front of each book, as a type of signature", and altered the books to make them into "works of art". He noted that a reader could become annoyed his alterations instead of realizing their artistic worth.
School of Visual Arts
Doeringer lectures at the School of Visual ArtsSchool of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. He said in a November 2011 interview with the LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
that enraged people from the audience have accosted him for creating bootleg copies of artists' works.