In-Depth Interview With Cosmic Artist Jack Armstrong

Jack Armstrong - Cosmic artist

Iconic artist Jack Armstrong is the leader of the Cosmic Extensionalism (Cosmic-X) art movement. The Life of Luxury is proud to have published multiple articles about Jack’s incredible art portfolio.

He holds the world record for creating the world’s most expensive bike, boots (Cosmic Cowboy Boots) and motorcycle (Cosmic Harley). Jack Armstrong has now set his sights on another world record – the world’s most expensive car. The custom painted, $100 million Cosmic-Supercar!

His amazing paintings have been sold to the rich and famous all around the world, including Sir Paul McCartney, the “King of Pop” Michael Jackson and Alice Walton (Walmart family heiress).  It is with great honor, that we have the opportunity to share an in-depth interview with the famous Cosmic artist – Jack Armstrong.

https://www.thelifeofluxury.com/christmas-2021-cosmic-x-masterpiece-art-sale-6-paintings-600m/


Q1. You are currently involved in a 1 year Digital Retrospective of your work being exhibited on a giant 65 X 40 ft. Screen in the Center of NYC. How does it feel? 
https://www.thelifeofluxury.com/cosmic-x-experience-from-artist-jack-armstrong-comes-to-new-york-city/

A. Amazing. No artist has ever done it before. It’s completely out of the box.  I recently closed a $30 Million dollar painting sale with well-known, Chinese billionaire collector – Jack Ma. He saw the exhibition and fell in love with “Cosmic Firebird” on digital display.

Jack Armstrong Art - Times Square, New York City, Ripley's Museum bigscreen


Q2. Thirty million for a private sale direct from the artist is amazing. Have you ever exhibited at Art Basel before & will this new price record perhaps influence you to become more visible in the big art fairs in the future?

A. I have never shown at Art Basel.  I turned down Castelli Gallery in NYC for a solo exhibit when I was 22 years old.

Leo Castelli represented every art legend of the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s.  His gallery was the most successful in the world for contemporary art.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Castelli

Without Mr. Castelli, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Serra, David Salle, Cy Twombly, Frank Stella & countless others would not have become iconic.  Larry Gagosian began as his assistant.

He also sold major works by de Kooning & Kandinsky when few collectors or dealers had interest & virtually re-created a new market for them. He was the only art dealer genius I met that revered the artist & not the money that the artist generated.


Q3. Then why didn’t you decide to show in his gallery?

A. I decided early to create my own singular art style & my own unique branding & rarity & to never use a dealer.

It is a pure way & uncomplicated. I imagine it, create it & by word of mouth it has become successful.  In my experience, dealers treat art as commerce, not something rare & filled with passion. I also wanted no part of something that I could not fully control or believe in totally.

After witnessing many of the dealers in NYC telling artists what to paint & having total control of all marketing, exhibits & licensing, it seemed to me like they were cloning artists while still calling their work original. Yet the dealers called all of the shots, not the artist.

Then it all became only art commerce when Jeff Koons, Damian Hirst & others started warehousing art that was created by armies of underpaid art assistants, who actually created the art, that was then signed & sold as original Koons & Hirst masterpieces.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/magazine/i-was-jeff-koonss-studio-serf.html

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/9010657/Damien-Hirst-assistants-make-my-spot-paintings-but-my-heart-is-in-them-all.html

If you desire to be the best, how can you work in a controlled system, where other’s create the rules? They enforce them & the artist is only a pawn in a vast marketing system that runs virtually without their input.

A masterpiece cannot be created by rules or by  committee.” – J.A.X.

All of it is purely art fraud & why I have remained outside the official art gallery system where dead sharks, balloon dogs & assistant created paintings are revered & worshipped by curators, museums & certain collectors. They all agree to call it original art (of artists who sign it) but did not produce any of this ‘phantom‘ art.


Q4. Why is originality, passion & rarity so important to you?

A. Originality creates passion and passion is the only reason to create or collect art.


Q5. Rarity then drives the price for original work?

A. Yes, this is why a Da Vinci sold recently for almost half a billion dollars & a Jean-Michel Basquiat original painting just sold for $110M.
https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/embargo-830am-1-11-yusaku-maezawas-blockbuster-basquiat-gets-show-brooklyn-museum-1194494

Untitled - Jean-Michel Basquiat painting
1982 ‘Untitled’ By Basquiat

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/nov/15/leonardo-da-vinci-salvator-mundi-auction

“There is a very limited supply of truly rare work available in the world of art, so the prices of unique original’s will move upward past the *billion dollar mark for an individual painting in the next 2 to 3 years.” – Jack Armstrong


Q6. How did you decide to create the world’s most expensive automobile?

A. I am currently planning the world’s 1st $100M. Dollar Car, which has never been done before & feels a bit like becoming the 1st person to climb Mt. Everest. After creating the world’s most expensive bicycle, cowboy boots, & motorcycle, The Armstrong-Bugatti: Cosmic-Supercar seemed to me a perfect – next project.

Cosmic Cowboy Boots by Jack Armstrong

https://www.thelifeofluxury.com/amazing-worlds-most-expensive-car-100-million-armstrong-bugatti/
https://trillionairemag.com/jack-armstrongs-6-million-boots/

“On the global art market, rarity & originality is everything & art is the most exclusive luxury product in the world.” -J.A.X.

I would like to be remembered as someone who crafted their own career & left behind in a cosmic sense, a blueprint of magic, to help others find a magical path of their own, in my new book, Cosmic X.
https://www.thelifeofluxury.com/excitement-is-building-for-the-cosmic-x-book-by-jack-armstrong/


Q7. How will your pricing be reflected in the future, now that you have broken the $30M. level in a private sale of your amazing ‘Cosmic Firebird’ painting?

A. Doris Duke purchased a one million dollar painting of mine in 1986.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Duke

At the time, Warhol’s paintings sold for $50K to $150K and Basquiat’s were $6K to $20K. It has always been better for me to be talked about in the highest circles by passionate collectors of my work, than to have a dealer convince me to mass produce work without any originality for sales pitches in mega-galleries.

I chose a different path.” – J.A.X.

Cosmic Firebird - Cosmic Artist Jack Armstrong
“Cosmic Firebird”


Q8. How much is the Cosmic Harley-Davidson you created currently priced at?

A. I have recently heard that my Cosmic-Starcruiser-Motorcycle, is now being offered at $35M for sale, from the family who purchased it in 2012.
https://motorbikewriter.com/worlds-expensive-bike-sale/

Cosmic Starship Harley Davidson custom motorcycle - Jack Armstrong
“Cosmic Starship – Custom Harley Davidson” – (Photo R. Nichols)

Warhol Naked‘ is my most famous painting & will now be priced at $100M.  Alongside 2 others, ‘CosmicX#1.‘ my first cosmic X painting from 1999, that defines what eventually became the ‘Cosmic X Art style & brand, & my last painting ‘Cosmic X#100.‘ Called: ‘Cosmic X Goddess.

Warhol Naked painting - Jack Armstrong
“Warhol Naked”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-sterling/andy-warhol-and-jack-arms_b_781353.html

My former, most expensive painting (The Last Wizard) remains priced at $110M & was recently featured in both The Life of Luxury & Jet-Set Magazine.

https://www.thelifeofluxury.com/jack-armstrong-cosmic-x-art-the-next-big-investment-opportunity/

http://www.jetsetmag.com/lifestyle/art-collectibles/mystery-masterpiece-jack-armstrongs-the-last-wizard-offered-at-50m/


Q9. What was your most interesting exhibit experience & personal art experience & what are your art world regret’s if any?

A. I was invited to exhibit the most amazing art bicycle in the world in Dubai to members of the Royal Family & the International Press, which was cool for a kid that grew up in Omaha. Alice Walton also owns my work & her family is the world’s wealthiest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton_family

https://www.thenational.ae/business/world-s-most-expensive-art-bicycle-rolls-into-dubai-at-big-boys-toys-1.449899

I was blessed to have known Warhol & been friends with Michael Jackson & Jean-Michel Basquiat. They were unique in their originality & passion.

Basquiat used to sleep overnight on my couch & I gave Michael art lessons.

There are several films currently in production that will be bios on my art career and I am included in the ‘Mirroring Michael Jackson‘ film, that is being done on the phenomenon of M.J.  Tribute artists continue to celebrate Michael’s genius & magic worldwide today.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9117324/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7643430/

My only regret is that M.J. & Basquiat are not still with us.  They had so much more to share with the world & were the rarest individual artists I have ever known.

People say my work will break the billion dollar mark per piece in the future, but I know that people are priceless & art is something that creates record prices.” -J.A.X.


Q10. Do you believe record breaking  private art sales are the future & will win out over top prices achieved at auction?

A. Private sales were already breaking top auction prices before last year’s da Vinci sale & they will again. People at the highest levels prefer buying without publicity & the manufactured competition that occurs at an auction.

Ken Griffin the Citadel hedge fund guru paid $500M Dollars recently for 2 paintings in a private sale.
https://news.artnet.com/market/ken-griffin-drops-500-million-two-paintings-430379

Also the Qatar Royal Family purchased a Gauguin at $300M with a Cezanne at $250M dollars.
https://www.france24.com/en/20150207-gauguin-painting-sells-for-record-300m-doha-qatar

These reported deals will be the tip of the iceberg in the future.  Many private deals will never appear in the press, benefiting the buyer & seller when privacy & asset security are worth the premium, that modern art masterpieces command.


Are you interested in owning something from Jack Armstrong’s incredible art collection?  Please Contact Us today for additional information.

Whether you are an art collector or investor, Jack’s art will continue to skyrocket in value. With only 100 paintings in existence, owning one is an extremely rare opportunity!

Jack Armstrong is taking the art world by storm. Please return soon and follow us for the latest, art industry news.

Photos: Jack Armstrong

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