Anna Delvey launches art career with convicted Basquiat forger
Famed criminal Anna Sorokin, who was the subject of the wildly popular Netflix series, Inventing Anna, has turned her attention to the art world. She will be flogging her own artworks, largely made while in prison, in her first solo art show next month.
But before then, there was the Free Anna Delvey exhibition, which wrapped today after opening on March 17. It was curated by artists Julia Morrison and Alfredo Martinez — the latter who also spent time in bars 20 years ago after being caught selling forged Jean-Michel Basquiat pictures. Oh, the irony.
While Delvey wasn’t able to see her own autobiographical sketches at the exhibit (she’s currently in ICE detention), the notorious con-woman did thank her fans for their support over a speakerphone. “Thank you so much, guys, for all of your support, and I hope you’re enjoying the night,” she said in her trademark accent. “I can’t wait to see all of the pictures.”
Sorokin’s art dealer, Chris Martine, told Forbes that around 15 to 20 works by the 31-year-old will likely be listed for $10,000 each at a gallery show in New York in April. Speaking to the publication, Martine told the publication that the works — which are a combination of “fashion sketches and satirical cartoons” — will depict her life over the past few years, prior to her incarceration and during it, in order to give fans a look into “her side of the story”.
The artworks were made in pencil and pen on 9-by-12 inch watercolour paper as those were the only supplies that Sorokin was permitted under custody, per the dealer.
She has also reportedly been “very involved” in the planning of her first show, and is excited to share her own story in a manner that is “not distorted from someone else’s lens.”
Sorokin, who is also known as Anna Delvey, was convicted in 2019 for scamming over $200,000 from luxury hotels, restaurants, friends, banks and a private jet operator while pretending to be an heiress with a $67 million trust fund. The Russian-born German pleaded not guilty to the charges and served nearly four years in jail. She was released last year but remains in ICE custody for apparently overstaying her visa.
