THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING: A film by Nathaniel Kahn
- An art world odyssey
Opens Friday, November 23, 2018 in Toronto at the Ted Rogers Hot Docs Cinema
“…in spite of what the market may say, there actually is very little intrinsic connection between value and price” – Nathaniel Kahn, Director
Nathaniel Kahn’s (My Architect) THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING takes a deep dive into the contemporary art world, holding a mirror up to our values and our times — where everything can be bought and sold.
Basquiat paintings regularly fetch tens of millions of dollars, and the recent sale of a little-known Da Vinci topped $450 million—but what forces are driving the white-hot art market? Who assigns and who pays these astronomical sums? What currency adequately measures art’s value? The Price of Everything leads us into a rarefied labyrinth of galleries, studios, and auction houses to wrestle with these questions and explore what society loses and gains when art becomes a rich person’s commodity.
With unprecedented access to in-demand artists like Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, and to prominent collectors and dealers, including Mary Boon and Simon de Pury, Academy Award nominee Nathaniel Kahn coaxes out the dynamics at play in pricing the priceless. Intimate interviews with a mega-collector Stefan Edlis reveal a surprising mix of altruism and business acumen as he determines the fate of his collection. Candid moments with ’60s art star Larry Poons probe why he fell out of fashion while his contemporaries’ cultural and monetary stock went sky-high. Rather than prescribe answers, Kahn’s juicy systemic portrait teases out tensions, holding a fun-house mirror to our feverish times.
Running time: 98 minutes
FILMS WE LIKE
Founded by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ron Mann (Grass, Comic Book Confidential, Altman) Films We Like is a boutique distributor of documentary, independent and international films in Canada. Recent releases include Nico1988 and Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood.
Media contact: Virginia Kelly
V Kelly & Associates