Are you sure they aren’t broken beyond having value?
Why not mail an anonymous letter to the artist? He’s not the cops, and probably can’t/won’t bother looking for you. Include the address of your chum’s garage.
Then wait and see. You should be able to tell whether Jo Jo’s story is bullshit, based on any action, or lack thereof, by the artist. Either way, he knows, and can react as he chooses without the police involved, unless that is what he wishes.
Very interesting story, I hope you keep us updated!
As long as nobody chooses to be an asshole, there are currently no search terms in this thread (that I’m aware of, anyway) that would particularly tend to lead anyone here. If someone just can’t resist dropping such keywords, if they want to be considerate, they could use various methods to thoroughly obfuscate any keywords from search engines.
I would Axle Foley it. “La la la la! I’m not listening to Jeffery!”
It seems you feel like you are in a moral dilemma. Ask yourself what you would want the eventual outcome to be for all involved, and what you are willing to sacrifice to get there. If the payment (sacrifice) is not enough to cover the outcome, or too high for your comfort, then you might need to re-evaluate your interest in this.
I also have a strong suspicion of the artist in question. Definitely a unique situation as this artist normally directs operations rather than working hands-on.
Until an item produced by his team is signed by the artist, is it worth anything? Until then, it’s just something from their studio.
A search for ‘stolen sculpture traded for pills’ ranks this thread third in the list of results. I don’t think anyone needs to be an asshole, it is extremely easy to find based purely on the text in the OP.
I strongly disagree with this statement.
I’m very puzzled how the artist would not control his “inventory”. Even the “broken” works. Joey is aiding a drug dealer who probably isn’t just selling to this one person.
Joey has received stolen goods.
I doubt that after the artists death they will be able to clean up like they think. They won’t be able to prove these are indeed the works of the artist.
A broken work that “may be” by that artist, well, doesn’t seem like they’d get a lot.
Who do you imagine would perform such a search? Someone who knew/cared enough to enter those terms would already know more than (or equal to) what’s revealed in this thread. The concern was that the artist’s name or other specific keywords would lead people here who didn’t already know what was going on.
You aren’t exactly dealing with Thomas Crown here. I suspect it’s more likely these pill poppers are collecting a bunch of busted junk with vague delusions of somehow cashing in on it.
If it’s who I’m thinking of, he’s getting on a bit and payday, such as it is, may only be a few years away.
While I’m tempted to suggest an anonymous letter to the artist, in truth I suspect that they’ll get their comeuppance when the lack of provenance reduces the value of the work to a fraction of its perceived value.
Or you could send a soprano around to Joey’s garage and tell her to let rip.
I’m positive I know who you mean (his name sounds like a sneeze). I would contact the artist directly, or his people anyway as I doubt you’d be able to get direct access to him.
great minds.