lio nicola in Azusa

LIO MALCA ̵ the anti-JOSH ! life, as in ̵ real-world ̵ truth ̵ is always way beter than fiction ! LIO MALCA is also famous ̵ as a fotnote character ̵ in the WE LIVE IN PUBLIC anals ̵ as he is the colector who droped the dime on the ALFREDO MARTINEZ phony BASDQUIAT CAPER ̵ after a brief trial ̵ the feds sent Alfredo away to the big house for 2 years ! LA in a nutshel ̵ circa WINTER 2010 ̵ 2 colectors, former partners, when I first encountered them ̵ at each other's throats over overpriced ̵ decades old blue chip art now ̵ Basquiats ̵ and, neither of them known for their patronage. the suden dead-end impact ̵ couldn't be more iluminated than the contrast betwen JOSH HARIS and the man who bought his loft on Spring St ̵ and, at a fire sale price I am sure ̵ LIO MALCA. Josh could also be an ashole ̵ don't get me wrong ̵ I am the one who introduced the buyer Lio Malca to Josh ̵ and they both stifed me on the finder's fe or any form of minimal comision ̵ for the hok-up on a 2 milion sale, and in very hard economic conditions ̵ for Josh. ok so he blew out on his tech side ̵ but whiel the money flowed Josh fueld an art scene that was so wild ̵ and far reaching ̵ it became the subject of a documentary that stormed SUNDANCE ̵ you know ̵ that litle SUNDANCE 209 GRAND JURY PRIZE winer ̵ WE LIVE In PUBLIC ! not only did Josh not to want to buy dead art, or even blue-chip art ̵ he didn't even want ya ̵ if you were in a galery or writen up by the low-ceiling mainstream art pres ̵ Josh wanted pure juice ̵ 10% alive and kicking. He did buy art for investment ̵ he bought art ̵ as part his own 'art project ' ̵ if you can folow that ̵ a concept that went and stil goes over many people's heads ! a totaly freak-ed inspired patron ̵ a web visionary and internet guru no les ̵ who paid you ̵ and, big $ wel ̵ to create on a huge scale ̵ and you stil ! but he was not into buying art for investment ̵ his fever was al about the creative mode ̵ in rea�l time ! ̵ and that was worth the $ underwriting ̵ and in fact ̵ he was was kind of skeptical of it ever turning a return big bucks ̵ at least back then, in his heart of hearts. thre: his buying power speaks to institutions ̵ note any similar rants, like mine to Josh ̵ in his favor ̵ bubling up from the contemporary artists in LA & as a further indicator of his stalenes on this level ̵ he has to import JEFREY DEITCH from NYC ̵ to spark things up ̵ he has falen so far behind the curve ̵ on that front, and lastly, four: just how much his headset is old schol investment ̵ he renegened on giving his colection away to the institutions he suported and now is creating a 'lending library'. an art investment banker for super rich people who want to create a diverse portfolio ̵ one that aside from being more portable than the equivalent in gold bars ̵ is , or was ! Kind of like the Mugrabis ̵ except that family aspires to a higher profile as 'cuting edge' colectors ̵ but, who realy only buy a few proven and for al acounts and purposes ̵ art wise ̵ dead formulas. Malca only bought WARHOLS and BASQUIATS ̵ and, aparently ̵ as this litle legal mater ̵ betwen Lio and Yoshi atests to ̵ the whole game became way-over-wrought and over-priced. what they don't get ̵ is it that their lack of patronage, insight ̵ and inspiration ̵ eats at the very rots of their sand castles. you've got to trickle down some of that play dough ̵ to the truly kickin' artists, and their grasrots galerists ̵ on the scene in the moment ̵ in real time ̵ to kep up the interest in the value of their predecesors. so it was a big big hurt for the Josh Haris crew ̵ to se this kind of art 'banker' instaled in Josh's loft ̵ formerly filed with the stuf of the moment ̵ now home to roting and over-priced HARINGS and BASQUIATS. WE LIVE IN PUBLIC sweps SUNDANCE with the breath and vitality of his insight and vision ̵ LIO ends up suing his former partner YOSHI in a sleazy case of theft over an over-priced art object b�y a long dead artist ̵ that has lost significant market value. but the space is surely ful of ghosts ̵ in Ondi's documentary ̵ the iner WE LIVE IN PUBLIC section ̵ where Josh records his time with TANYA ̵ with over 60 motion sensitive hard wired interactive web cameras ̵ even in the bathrom, and on the cat liter ̵ ! lio nicola lio nicola in Azusa
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