The Austrian performance artist Flatz wants his tattoos to continue to exist as works of art after his death therefore Christie’s supports the Bavarian State Painting Collections at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich and the FLATZ Foundation with a charity auction.
In a final act, FLATZ transfers his skin and thus his existence to art. He is auctioning off all the tattoos he has had tattooed into his skin since 1975. Until the dissected pieces of skin are handed over posthumously, full-body photographs with the marked areas of skin serve as symbolic governors. The charity auction to support the museum and the FLATZ Foundation will be conducted by Dirk Boll, chairman of Christie՚s.
The auction is the prelude to the retrospective exhibition: "Something Wrong with Physical Sculpture" by FLATZ at the Pinakothek der Moderne.
Up for sale are 13 works from FLATZ’s last major body of work. The 13 tattoos covering the artist’s body will be auctioned off under the title: "To Risk One's Own Skin" Until the posthumous handover of the prepared pieces of skin, photographs will serve as symbolic substitutes.
The auction thus offers a unique opportunity to acquire a significant piece of art history’s future, as this during his lifetime, as this is the first time an artist has sold his real body as a work of art during his lifetime.
Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.
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