Karl Lagasse

Karl Lagasse, French American artist born on April 4, 1981, in Paris, France. Creator of the One Dollar sculpture as well as the trophy for the 43rd to 48th editions of the Deauville American Film Festival. Lagasse is currently living and working in Austin, Texas.
Biography
Youth
Karl Lagasse was born on April 4, 1981, in Paris, France, into a family of artists.
Artistic career
Karl Lagasse's career began in 1996 with the sale of his first work in Antwerp, when he was 15 years old.
A few years later, in 2003, he prepared his first exhibition in Paris where he exhibited his works that combined collages and paintings, as suggested to him by Yvaral Vasarely, son of the Hungarian visual artist Victor Vasarely, when they met in 1998.
Lagasse began sculpting in 2004 and found inspiration by watching the Nuits Blanches. He then began to seek his own style and started the series "Buildings", tower sculpture works, composed of different materials. The same year, Lagasse left Paris to settle in Normandy where he transformed the ground floor of his mother's house into a gallery which he called "The Workshop" (located at the time at 79, rue du Général-Leclerc in Deauville).
In 2006, Isy Brachot (a famous Brussels gallery) devoted an exhibition to Lagasse and his works.
In 2008, Lagasse returned to Paris to exhibit at the Espace Pierre Cardin. Paintings, sculptures, and photographs were presented, as well as a film about the creation of the works.
2009 was the year of the creation of one of the artist's most emblematic works: the One Dollar. A work resulting from his admiration for the United States but also symbolizing what it is possible to do with a single dollar; "Making art with $1".
In 2010, Lagasse was chosen to represent the town of Deauville on the occasion of the "Horsemania" equestrian world championship which takes place in Lexington (United States), a city twinned with the seaside resort of Normandy, for which he made a custom sculpture.
After the "One Dollar", which succeeded internationally, he presented another work which became emblematic: the "Cryptogram One". The public discovered it at the Art Monaco fair in 2011.
To celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, Karl Lagasse produced a “Building” in cement, wood, glass, and photos in collaboration with Corbis and exhibited it at the Carlton Cinema Club. The artists presented at the festival were invited to sign the work and leave a message on it. This is what José Garcia, Michel Hazanavicius, Bérénice Bejo, Gad Elmaleh, Cuba Gooding Jr, Tim Roth, Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron did.
The same year, Karl Lagasse offered the city of Deauville a "Cryptogram One" made in bronze. The sculpture, which is , was installed at the entrance to the city (at the beginning of the Avenue de la République) and inaugurated by the mayor Philippe Augier on August 5, 2012.
In 2014, Maserati contacted Karl Lagasse for the first time with the purpose of collaborating to celebrate the centenary of the prestigious Italian brand and the global launch of the new Ghibli. This model serves as the basis for the creation of the work called "Psalm 2". It was presented to the public during the Art Paris Art Fair of the same year.
A year after their first collaboration, Karl Lagasse and Maserati found themselves again within the framework of the realization of a monumental installation, entitled "A Piece of Heaven on Earth". The work is made up of a Maserati covered with a white plastic film and a statue of Jesus Christ, at whose feet are several One Dollar sculptures that represent the payment of humanity's greatest debt. The installation was open to the public during the Art Paris Art Fair 2015.
In 2016, a high One Dollar, entirely made of bronze, was exhibited at the Art Paris Art Fair. The President of the French Republic congratulated Lagasse in person for his work. The same year, Karl Lagasse exhibited at the Atrium Gallery in Marbella where he presented several new paintings and sculptures. The opening took place in the presence of his wife, Cherise Lagasse, classical crossover operatic singer (who performed several pieces from her repertoire for the occasion), the Mayor of the city, Jose Bernal Gutierrez, and the international press.
In December 2016, one of his sculptures was put up for sale for €60,000.
In 2017, Karl Lagasse created the trophy for the winners of the 43rd edition of the Deauville American Film Festival. Karl Lagasse succeed la Maison Cartier, who was in charge of the trophy design the previous years.
2018, installation at museum Strokar, Belgium on a wall of 50m.
Collective exhibit at Hotel Royal Monceau, Paris.
He creates again the trophy for the Deauville American Film Festival, based on his Cryptogram sculpture. Artists like Elle Fanning, Jessica Parker, Morgan Freeman, and more, received the award.
2019, A One-Dollar Sculpture for rapper Future.
He created a new trophy design for the Deauville American Film Festival, this time an aluminum ring engraved. Artists like Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Turner, Johnny Depp, Geena Davis, Kristen Stewart, and others received the award.
2020, Karl created a new painting (Jesus is Lord), and a new trophy design for the Deauville American Film Festival, representing the Deauville beach cabins, typical of the region.
2021, Karl Lagasse created the first OneDollar NFT. Karl started collaboration with Prefixa to explore other digital pieces based on his physical art and his concepts.
First edition of NFTs auctioned on Makersplace.
Two world records for Karl Lagasse: Jesus is Lord, in Phillips auction, London; and To rob a bank, in Paris. Both of the record-winning artworks are inspired by his predominant way of creating art, the graffiti.
Ascension of Christ. Sculpture created.
Solo show, Decentraland museum, including some NFTs minted for Art Basel Miami 2021.
New design of trophy for the Deauville American Film Festival.
Opening of Karl Lagasse showroom-workshop at Austin, Texas.
2022, Nasdaq screen projection, Times Square. One dollar in the cyberspace city NFT projected on Times Square screen.
Deauville American Film Festival Trophy
For the first time since its creation in 1975, the festival called on an artist to create his own trophy. The artist chosen to design the trophy was Karl Lagasse. Inspired by "Cryptogram One", the trophy was made of cast aluminum (133 hours of work for each part) on which we find letters arranged on all sides and which form words such as Hope, Wisdom, or even "7th Art". The trophy, accompanied by a leather bag specially made by Prouès and whose exterior was designed by Karl Lagasse, is awarded to the winners, including Woody Harrelson, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Rodríguez, Darren Aronofsky, Laura Dern, Robert Pattinson.
NFTs
From 2021 to nowadays, Karl Lagasse began a collaboration with Prefixa XR-ROOM (XR Visualization services) to explore digital 3D versions of his work, but also exploring new possibilities.
He made his entrance into the NFT world with his most emblematic masterpiece, The One Dollar, digitized and sold in auction through Makersplace platform. This first NFT collection was composed of 3 NFTs, A One Dollar Red in the Sky (14 editions), A-One Dollar Gold in the Future, designed in gold with a futuristic theme (1 edition), and A One Dollar Silver in the Galaxy (10 editions).
In that same year, Lagasse released his second collection with 3 NFTs for sale on the Opensea Platform, a special Collection for Decentraland, and presented in Art Basel-Miami 2021. The collection includes A One Dollar Bronze in the Sky Paradise, One Dollar in the Golden Universe, and A One Dollar in the Cyberspace City.
In 2022, Lagasse's NFT career has continued to grow alongside his interest in new digital tools and immersive technologies. With the launching of his new NFT website, Karl Lagasse has begun exploring immersive spaces with his own Virtual NFT Gallery that can be enjoyed on different digital platforms as well as with VR headsets.
This same year, Karl Lagasse has so far released a total of 4 collections based on his physical artworks accompanied by editions of NFTs of the same artwork and sold by auctions sites.
Awards
2009: Artprice ranked Karl Lagasse among the ten best sculptors in the world under 30.

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