McMouth
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Marius Sperlich, McMouth
2018 | Archival inkjet print on Hahnemuhle photo rag paper
Edition of 15, Unsigned
NFS
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Everything about this work — and much of Sperlich’s work — is sexy, clever, intimate, detailed, and showcases the human body in wildly unique ways. It’s not just a beautiful photograph of a beautiful person’s physical attributes (although I love those works too; e.g. Herb Ritts, Robert Mapplethorpe, Tom Bianchi) but it’s an entire production. Marius occasionally shares behind-the-scenes videos on his Instagram where you can see and appreciate all the work that goes into producing the final image.
Acquiring this work was a big deal for me— for a number of reasons:
1. The artist: Marius Sperlich. I first found out about Marius in 2019; he was presenting an interactive work titled "Likes = Money” at Art Miami. For 24 hours, every like the photo received on Instagram would add $1 to the final asking price of the work.
At the time, I was starting to lose traction as a fitness influencer. I was addicted to likes, comments, and shares across FB, IG and YouTube. More sadly, I was constantly comparing those metrics to my glory days of being an influencer— just a year prior. So I found Likes = Money to be insanely poignant and clever.
2. It was my first “big” acquisition. With all the buzz surrounding Marius, I never thought I’d be in a position to purchase a work of his. But in 2021, it became a reality (I still had to split the payments up though). Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to acquire 5 more pieces by him.
3. The purchase eventually lead to friendships with gallerist, Benjamin Krause — owner of Krause Gallery in NYC — and Marius himself.
