Many artists have been known to destroy their own work… From Michelangelo to Monet to Jasper Johns and most recently, Banksy. Sometimes the motivations are known, such as with Johns, who famously wanted to stop becoming an artist and simply be one. Other times, such as with Georgia O’Keeffe or Banksy we’re left wondering what exactly the motivation was. Whatever their motivations, whatever their tools, from sledgehammers to fire to knives to paper shredders, at the end of the day something is different. The work is gone, damaged or simply changed. Indeed, in Banksy’s case the piece (Girl with Balloon) was half shredded, but then skyrocketed in value!

Of course sometimes other people destroy an artist’s work. It could be rage, it could be revenge, it could even be for insurance! Whatever the reason, it’s one thing for someone to destroy someone else’s art… after all, they didn’t pour their hearts into making it. It wasn’t their sweat and sensibilities that went into creating it. They didn’t argue themselves into knots trying to decide whether it was finished or not. For them, it’s just art, and there’s no shortage of artists!

It’s another thing all together to destroy your own work… and with all due respect to Michelangelo et. al, I’m not so brave as to actually destroy my art. As such, I’ve created a series of NFTs destroying various pieces of my art, if only digitally. This NFT is called Rage Against Art – Look Left, and the manner of destruction is getting eaten by a dinosaur.

Look Left is a 30” X 48” mixed media on canvas piece I did in 2017. The name comes from the fact that as I stepped away to get a different perspective when it was only half finished, it looked like a man looking left. Clearly the man didn’t survive the final drips of paint, but the name stuck.

As of right now that piece, Look Left, is available for sale on 1st Dibs and can be found here: https://www.1stdibs.com/art/paintings/abstract-paintings/vince-coyner-look-left-48x30-acrylic-spray-paint-on-canvas/id-a_7140932/