Describing himself as 'Australia's worst artist', Ben Butcher has placed his work on the walls of one of Australia's most renowned galleries.
He sneaked into the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne last week to put a piece he calls 'Self-Fulfillment' on display.
'I painted this one quite small because I figured I've got to sneak it in somehow so it had to be small enough to put in a carry bag - something they'd let me into the gallery with,' Mr Butcher told Daily Mail Australia.
'I sort of hid around a corner, put my hoodie and got the painting prepared. I was all ready to go but I went to do it I noticed there was a guard who started walking towards me.
'But she turned around and went into another room and as soon as she walked out I just went for it. Within 10 seconds it was done.'
Mr Butcher won a prize for 'Bad Art' in 2009 and has proclaimed himself as 'Australia's worst artist' ever since.
'Years ago I won the Itchiball Prize for Bad Art, by painting a unicorn stabbing a dolphin with its horn - it gave me claim as being the worst,' he said.
'I didn't think anyone else was using the title and I won the prize so I'll happily be Australia's worst artist.
The painting Mr Butcher put on the wall of the gallery is actually a picture of himself putting the picture on the wall.
'The actual painting that I snuck in, it's pretty self-preferential, the picture is of me sneaking my painting in. The painting that I'm sneaking is the one which one the prize.'
'We live in an age where monolithic cultural institutions no longer have a monopoly over the distribution of ideas,' the label read.
'Media that was once only accessible to a privileged few is now freely available to the masses, and direct action and self-publishing are now unprecedentedly possible.
'In Self-Fulfilment, the artist decides to install his own painting into the National Gallery of Victoria, bringing gasps of delight to the viewing public.'
(Daily Mail)
He sneaked into the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne last week to put a piece he calls 'Self-Fulfillment' on display.
'I painted this one quite small because I figured I've got to sneak it in somehow so it had to be small enough to put in a carry bag - something they'd let me into the gallery with,' Mr Butcher told Daily Mail Australia.
'I sort of hid around a corner, put my hoodie and got the painting prepared. I was all ready to go but I went to do it I noticed there was a guard who started walking towards me.
'But she turned around and went into another room and as soon as she walked out I just went for it. Within 10 seconds it was done.'
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| The picture Mr Butcher puts on the wall of the gallery is actually a picture of him |
Mr Butcher won a prize for 'Bad Art' in 2009 and has proclaimed himself as 'Australia's worst artist' ever since.
'Years ago I won the Itchiball Prize for Bad Art, by painting a unicorn stabbing a dolphin with its horn - it gave me claim as being the worst,' he said.
'I didn't think anyone else was using the title and I won the prize so I'll happily be Australia's worst artist.
The painting Mr Butcher put on the wall of the gallery is actually a picture of himself putting the picture on the wall.
'The actual painting that I snuck in, it's pretty self-preferential, the picture is of me sneaking my painting in. The painting that I'm sneaking is the one which one the prize.'
'We live in an age where monolithic cultural institutions no longer have a monopoly over the distribution of ideas,' the label read.
'Media that was once only accessible to a privileged few is now freely available to the masses, and direct action and self-publishing are now unprecedentedly possible.
'In Self-Fulfilment, the artist decides to install his own painting into the National Gallery of Victoria, bringing gasps of delight to the viewing public.'
(Daily Mail)
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