Artist pranksters on trend

Artists turned pranksters are on the rise, using social media’s ‘viral’ capacity to tout deeper message in veil of fun.

Last week (30 September), news of Danish artist Jens Haaning went viral when he purportedly ‘took the money and ran’.

Global arts media picked up on Haaning’s prankster antics, when he delivered two blank canvases to Kunsten Museum – located in Aalborg, Denmark – which he had been commissioned to create for a new exhibition for a fee of $AUD116,106 (534,000 kroner).

Haaning titled the pair of paintings, Take the Money and Run, pushing the work into a realm that many artists have flirted with over time – social commentary veiled with humour.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina