A Potential Piece of Yellowism (October 21 2012) A Potential Piece of Yellowism (October 21 2012)

Vladimir Umanets the 26 year old Russian founder of ‘Yellowism’ has been arrested by British police for the graffiti damage caused to a Mark Rothko painting at the Tate Modern. In an article by John Fahey & Ellen Branagh published in The Independent, states “The wording on the bottom-right corner of the piece appears to read: “Vladimir Umanets, A Potential Piece of Yellowism. “Umanets said “Some people think I’m crazy or a vandal, but my intention was not to destroy or decrease the value, or to go crazy. I am not a vandal.” Umanets, who studied art, is one of the founders of “Yellowism”, which he describes as… “Yellowism is not art, and Yellowish isn’t anti-art. It’s an element of contemporary visual culture. It’s not an artistic movement. It’s not art, it’s not reality, it’s just Yellowism. It can’t be presented in a gallery of art, it can be presented only in Yellowistic chambers. The main difference between Yellowism and art is that in art you have got freedom of interpretation, in Yellowism you don’t have freedom of interpretation. Everything is about Yellowism – that’s it. I am a Yellowist. I believe what I am doing and I want people to start talking about this. It was like a platform. I don’t need to be famous, I don’t want money, I don’t want fame, I’m not seeking attention. Maybe I would like to point people’s attention on what it’s all about. What is Yellowism? What is art? It’s good people are shocked about what happened. No one is realising what actually happened, everyone is just posting that the piece has been damaged or destroyed or defaced. “But I believe that after a few years they will start looking for it from the right angle. So that’s why I did it. I believe that from everything bad there’s always a good outcome so I’m prepared for that but obviously I don’t want to spend a few months, even a few weeks, in jail. But I do strongly believe in what I am doing, I have dedicated my life to this. To be honest, I do believe I increased the value. It seems probably ridiculous for someone but I do believe in this. I didn’t decrease the value, I didn’t destroy this picture, I put something new.”

 

Inspired by John Fahey & Ellen Branagh ow.ly/eofzx image source Huff Post ow.ly/eofWN