In-Depth Interview With Cosmic Artist Jack Armstrong
Iconic artist Jack Armstrong is the leader of the Cosmic Extensionalism (Cosmic-X) art movement.
https://www.claudiachiari.com/en/jack-armstrong-magic-cosmic-x-art-millionaire-collectors/
He holds the world record for creating the world’s most expensive Art Bicycle, Boots (Cosmic Cowboy Boots), Motorcycle (Cosmic Harley) and Handbag – ‘Moonstone‘.
https://www.luxuryinvestmentmagazine.com/moonstone-the-worlds-most-expensive-bag-by-jack-armstrong/
His amazing paintings have been sold to the rich and famous all around the world, including Jack Ma (China) Alice Walton. (Walmart) and Michael Jackson.. It is with great honor, that we have the opportunity to share an in-depth interview with the famous Cosmic X artist – Jack Armstrong.
Q1. You are involved in a 2 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. Quite amazing. No artist has ever done it before. It’s completely out of the box. ‘When Jean-Michel Basquiat and I were doing graffiti in NYC – he would quite often stay at my apartment and we would speak for hours about becoming famous artists, who could one day have a ‘retrospective’ on the huge digital ‘billboards’ in Times Square.” He would be smiling and saying “BOOM FOR REAL” if he were here today.
Q2. Have you ever exhibited at Art Basel before and will your record breaking 2 year Digital Art Retrospective in NYC perhaps influence you to show your work at the big International Art Fairs?
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
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
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 $200 Million 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 and motorcycle, The Armstrong-Bugatti: Cosmic-Supercar seemed to me a perfect – next project.
https://www.thelifeofluxury.com/200-million-bugatti-art-car-set-to-smash-mercedes-142m-world-record/
“On the global art market, rarity and 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. What were some of your early notable sales?
A. Billionaire Doris Duke bought a one million dollar painting of mine in 1984, which allowed me to become completely independent from the entire gallery scene that confines most artists to having art dealers control their work.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Duke
In the late 1980’s, 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 am fortunate that some of the world’s wealthiest people continue to buy my art.
In the 1980’s: My friends Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, Freddy Mercury and David Bowie all bought my paintings.
”From the beginning… I chose a different path.” – J.A.X.
“Cosmic Firebird”
https://www.wikiart.org/en/jack-armstrong/cosmic-firebird-2005
Armstrong continues, “The Firebird painting is one of my most iconic works. I produced both a Ballet & Dance Concert with it as the centerpiece. It is valued at $120 Million.”
Q8. How much is the Cosmic Harley-Davidson you created currently priced at?
A. My ⭐Cosmic Starship Harley’s current value is $50 Million.
https://www.luxuryinvestmentmagazine.com/million-dollar-harley-art-for-collectors-by-jack-armstrong/
“Cosmic Starship – Custom Harley Davidson” – (Photo Jack Armstrong)
‘Warhol Naked’ is my most famous painting and priced at $300 Million. ‘CosmicX #1‘ is my first Cosmic ‘X’ painting from 1999 and defines what eventually became the Cosmic ‘X’ Art style and brand. My last painting Cosmic X #100 is called: ‘Cosmic X Goddess.’
https://usaartnews.com/art/warhol-naked-will-sell-for-record-300-million
“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/
Q9. What was your most interesting exhibit experience and personal art experience, plus what are your art world regrets if any?
A. I was invited to exhibit the most amazing art bicycle in the world in Dubai to members of the Royal Family and the International Press, which was cool for a kid that grew up in Omaha. Alice Walton also owns my work and her family is one of the world’s wealthiest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton_family
Excitement is Building for the “Cosmic X” Book by Jack Armstrong
I was blessed to have known Warhol and been friends with Michael Jackson and Jean-Michel Basquiat. They were unique in their originality and passion.
Basquiat used to sleep overnight on my couch and 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. and Basquiat are not still with us. They had so much more to share with the world and 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 and art is something that creates record prices.” -J.A.X.
Q10. Do you believe record breaking private art sales are the future and 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 and 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