G-Dragon's 'Youth is Flower' artwork heads to auction starting at $23,000

Need a painting for your wall? G-Dragon’s marker and spray paint art piece “Youth is Flower” could be yours for an auction price starting at 30 million won ($22,540).

G-Dragon's marker and spray paint art piece "Youth is Flower"[SEOUL AUCTION]

Need a painting for your wall? G-Dragon’s marker and spray paint art piece “Youth is Flower” could be yours for an auction price starting at 30 million won ($22,540).

“Youth of Flower” will be auctioned at Seoul Auction’s contemporary art fair on March 29, according to the auction house’s website on Thursday. Boy band Big Bang member G-Dragon created the piece in 2017 using a marker and spray paint on a steel panel.

Also on Seoul Auction’s roster are pieces from visual artist Lee Bae, known for his monochrome paintings and charcoal sculptures, and from artist Kim Sun-woo, known for his dodo bird designs. An avid fine art collector, G-Dragon had even been listed on ARTnews’ “50 Art Collectors to Watch,” the New York-based magazine’s list of emerging art collectors, in 2019. But this is the first time his own creation, and not a collaborative piece or a piece from his collection, is being auctioned.

Still shot from Big Bang's ″Bae Bae″ (2014) music video [YG ENTERTAINMENT]

G-Dragon has long shown his interest in fine art and has even incorporated it into his musical endeavors, such as writing Big Bang’s “Bae Bae” (2014) after being inspired by Irish-born British artist Francis Bacon’s — not to be confused with the 16th-century English philosopher of the same name — work in a museum.

In 2015, he participated in the production of the “PeaceMinusOne: Beyond the Stage” exhibition held at the Seoul Museum of Art. A total of 14 contemporary artists from Korea and overseas displayed art pieces that were made in collaboration with G-Dragon, with him as their muse. The singer-songwriter personally described and promoted the exhibition in a press conference.

G-Dragon's ″Youth is Flower″ as displayed on Seoul Auction's website [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Unlike other artists’ works, which have estimated prices disclosed along their works on the website, G-Dragon’s piece asks for a “separate inquiry” into its price.

Seoul Auction said the starting price for the art piece will be 30 million won and that the winning price for the piece will be determined at the auction held at 3 p.m. on March 29. “Youth is Flower” is currently on display at Seoul Auction’s Gangnam center in southern Seoul.

BY CHOI SEO-IN,KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]