Grimes, already known for designing her own album art and merch, is debuting her first fine art show May 28, and – in news that would be surprising, if Grimes hadn’t surprised us so many times that we’re used to it by now – a “fraction of her soul” will be made up for grabs.
The musician – otherwise known as Claire Boucher, c, or the mother to X Æ A-Xii – will debut the show online, with Gallery Platform Los Angeles and Maccarone Los Angeles. The show will also include notebook drawings and anime-inspired digital prints that fans will recognise, some featuring her digital avatar, WarNymph.
The portion of her soul, titled Selling Out (also the title of the show), will feature as a contract, which outlines the buyer’s terms of ownership and “satirizes expectations of authenticity”, according to a statement from Maccarone.
“I didn’t want anyone to buy it, so I said we should just make it $10 million and then it probably won’t sell,” Grimes tells Bloomberg, talking about the artwork. But the economic implications of coronavirus made her question the decision. “With the current state of the world, do you want to put something up for $10 million?” she adds.
Now, Selling Out will instead be auctioned off to whoever makes the “best offer”.
View the virtual show via Gallery Platform Los Angeles May 28 to June 3, or Maccarone Los Angeles May 28 to August 31.