German artist claims: “Swiss millionaire bought my skin”

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Loud chatter, art experts, reporters and excitement about a strange spectacle initially filled the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich on Thursday evening. People were waiting for the Austrian artist Wolfgang Flatz (71) to auction his skin as announced. Bidders could have purchased copies of his tattoos there. After his death, the specimens would have been replaced by the real pieces of skin. But that didn’t happen, as ‘Bild’ reports.

Bernhard Maaz, general director of the Bavarian State Painting Collection, started the evening with a presentation on the topic: “Can there be art in which provocation has no room?” But then the shock: Maaz ended his lecture with the sentence: “the announced auction will not take place”.

Identity unknown

The reason: a Swiss would have beaten the bidders! “One of my biggest Swiss collectors bought everything together a few hours ago,” Flatz told “Bild”. He insists it wasn’t planned. Not really. Flatz apparently can’t comment on his identity – he’s just a millionaire. Whether this is true and which Swiss art lover it is remains to be seen.

Completely naked on stage

Even though he canceled his own auction, the artist didn’t miss a dramatic moment. So he appeared on stage, dressed in a black satin bathrobe. He had this removed and then stepped onto a turntable. There he twirled around, completely naked and brightly lit, while the audience shouted things like “50 cents for the tip” at him for several minutes. Those gathered were not treated to an auction, but to a show.

Things went more smoothly than in 1979, when he let the audience shoot darts at him and promptly received a hit that injured him.

Source: Blick