The court described the developer’s behaviour as “an act of pure pique and revenge” and ordered him to pay the 5 Pointz artists $150,000 for each destroyed piece.
Source: Ezmosis/Wikipedia
The total sum will be split between 21 artists. The highest award, $1.3m, will go to Jonathan Cohen, an artist and the project’s curator. Graffiti on the 5 Pointz complex owned by Gerald Wolkoff were considered as art of recognized statute. Judge Frederic Block ruled that the artists should be awarded the maximum amount of damages permitted under federal law, though he found that the works did not have “a provable market value”.
The artistic community and experts say the graffiti were meritorious and became a destination for media, tourists and schoolchildren. “It is a victory not only for the artists in this case but for artists around the country. The rights of aerosol artists have been completely vindicated. It sends a message that their art must be cherished, not destroyed,” Artnewspaper quotes the lawyer representing the 5 Pointz artists as saying.
The artists drew graffiti with the permission of developer Gerald Wolkoff. In 2013, they filed a claim under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) to prevent the developer and his real estate companies from destroying the work. Under the law, he was to give the artists 90 days’ notice so they could save the work. Wolkoff didn’t do it and showed no signs of remorse at the trial, which contributed to the court’s sharp reaction.
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