Magnus Gjoen Delft Scarab Big Issue Edn. 50x68cm Signed Paper on Board 2019 Run of 300

From what I can gather this was conceived of and produced by Magnus Gjoen in 2019 in aid and support of the Big Issue. The homelessness charity provides a vehicle and form of paid, engaging and active work, fundraising & campaigning more broadly, through the sale by its clients of The Big Issue publication to members of the public in the street.

I am unable to find if an original concept accompanying the work, but as with all great works there is plenty of space for the viewer/consumer of such a piece to ascribe their own meaning.

One clear, inescapable, entirely appropriate and yet lamentable decision in this instance is the material on which it is printed. Gjoen’s artistic standard for such a print work would be archival pigment inks on 310 GSM cotton rag. For this piece to have any credence then a Charity whose product is sold with an eye to producing a cost effective product that is transacted for small ”loose change”, cannot be concerned with balancing costs & charitable mission statements if at the same time it diverts resources to factor in the gloss count of the publications pages. To compete materially with the likes of Vogue who can, do and who most likely have budgets for sourcing & manufacturing a publication whose ink won’t bleed, smudge or rub on to their readerships clothes or fingers.

Archival pigments and 310 GSM cotton rag with a print of this size & subject would easily be sold by Gjoen as an original work of art for £350.00+ in my experience, minimum. If the same specification of materials were applied to a work associated with all the elements of this particular charity and its operations, any such work would quite rightly be scorned and derided for the hypocrisy and the irrelevance for who it was conceived of and for.

However, this is where the element of lament comes in…by adopting the specification of materials in alignment with the ethos, budget, practicalities of The Big Issue, its clients, product, consumers, premise of being able to provide income, to have any integrity at all and to have relevance to all of this and wider, the paper of this Delft-inspired Scarab falls below the standards of Gjoen and the traditional concept frame-worthy collectible art. In other words the paper has been damaged where if it were of the higher grade materials it may have been better maintained & remained intact. However, at least the lesser standard of paper is borne in its present state & therefore remains true to its concept.

The damage happened in transit to me when the glass of the frame shattered. The print is still attached to the board of this frame but could come separated if done gently. I think it best to leave it attached for now until whoever buys it decides how they wish frame or store it.

Essentially this is a more affordable & slightly damaged Magnus Gjoen, conceived of in the assistance of a charity, which when properly presented and secured is no less an artwork than any other. Raised issues over how value is assigned to art work, in this context the physical properties of the materials determine value but then the conceptual value of the artist is contesting that somewhat. An intriguing & affordable piece I hope someone will take a liking to.

Courier would be ParcelForce, tracked, insured and dispatched the next working day by an express service.