At the marathon closing of the Jeff Koons retrospective at the Whitney, an artist decided to add his mark to the exhibit, without permission and in front of a crowd of potential witnesses. Video uploaded to Instagram shows the man, whom the New York Times identified as Christopher Johnson, spray painting the wall next to a Koons Hanging Heart at about 12:30AM. Sources tell ANIMAL he attempted to write “PPPriceless,” an apparent shout out to graffiti crew PPP (Peter Pan Posse), but misspelled it a bit. UPDATE: ANIMAL obtained exclusive footage of tagging, attempted getaway.
Unsurprisingly, Johnson,33, was arrested and hit with several charges, all of which sound pretty reasonable considering the brazen stunt.
In August, artist Istvan Kantor splashed an X of his own blood on a wall inside the Koons exhibit. In Kantor’s case throwing blood on museum walls has been part of his practice since 1979. Little is known about Johnson, but his tag will likely be the last piece of graffiti at the Whitney, they will close and begin their move to the Meat Packing District next month. (Photo: J. Miller)
