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Artist Gains Notoriety from Celebrity Tantrum

April 5, 2009 by Marion Maneker

Courtney Love is throwing a fit over a the mistaken loss of an artwork but the result is getting artist Polly Morgan a lot of press in the UK. Here’s the Mail on the more substantive aspects of this tale:

London-based Morgan, 29, has enjoyed huge success since being spotted by graffiti artist Banksy in 2005.

A trained taxidermist, she has made her name fashioning art out of dead animals that have met accidental or unpreventable death. Her works sell for up to £50,000. Her first work, a white rat curled up in a champagne glass, sold to Richard Branson’s sister Vanessa for £2,000.

Kate Moss bought two of her pieces; a stuffed quail curled up in a foetal position in a matchbox, entitled When We Were Children, and a blue tit lying across a prayer book, called To Every Seed His Own Body. Damien Hirst is a major fan and Charles Saatchi has acquired her work for his collection.

Ms Love, 44, whom the artist described in an interview as ‘completely bonkers’, bought her piece after much debate with Morgan.

Courtney Love’s fury as removal man throws out her prized £8,000 ‘work of art’ with the rubbish (Mail Online)

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