Art prankster Court Painter has struck again.

A work by the less than elusive street smart artist self-destructed in front of startled flea market auction -goers on Friday, moments after being sold for $17 CDN

The spray-painted canvas Doug Freeing A  Balloon was sold at a flea market auction in Inglewood, fetching more than three times its pre-sale estimate of $5 and equalling a record price for the artist.

Then, as the artist shrieked on cue, it ran through a shredder embedded in the frame, emerging from the bottom in strips.

Court Painter in act of shredding

A post on Court Painter’s studio bulletin board showed the moment — and the shocked reaction of those few at the auction paying any attention — with the words “Going, going, gone…”

“It appears we just got Court Painter-ed,” said A Hardon MacKay Press Attache and Head of Publicity Stunts for Court Painter.

Photo  of boisterous ballo0n and hot air enthusiasts at auction

AHM said he was “in discussion about next steps” with the buyers, well known hobbyists and connoisseurs and Calgary’s only power couple of note. (names available upon request)

“We have not experienced this situation in the past where a painting we bought for $17 CDN. spontaneously shredded, upon achieving a record for the artist,” CC & DC said in sing songey unison. “We are busily figuring out what this means in a resale context.”

Court Painter, who is always disclosing his full identity by button holing people with his wild imaginings and tattered reproductions, began his career spray-painting bucking broncos on the sides of vans for the Calgary Stampede crowd and remains one of the world’s least-known artists.

He has a penchant for elaborate failed pranks to numerous to mention.

The recent commission Doug Freeing A  Balloon, depicts the Ontario Premier reaching up, freeing a round dark balloon containing the text of his favourite subject : Carbon Tax . When asked why a balloon, Doug replied that in discussion with Court Painter (who is a self described master of artistic symbolism), CP explained that he saw me as a metaphor about to hatch and visioned me as a populist freedom fighter captured on canvas, freeing a Carbon Tax ballon filled with hot air sourced from the depth of my lungs expended profusely without guard rails , filling the trial balloons of populist governance and stuff like that ! I was thrilled with the painting but am confused with the shredding….However I can really see doing that to my anti taxer and fellow populist freedom fighter Jason Kenney….he gets mad when you prank him…anyway as I always said to my bro Rob, Art is in the wallet of the beholder!

Editors note: Doug’s statement was edited for clarity ,brevity , flow, comprehension and word count.

The day before yesterday preparing for the release of a new painting , a photo of Court Painter with Canadian psychology professor Jordan B. Peterson started making the rounds online. Peterson, a public speaker and bestselling author, has become a polarizing figure for his views on topics such as feminism, white privilege and non-binary pronouns. Press Attache A Hardon MacKay  posted a photo of Peterson with Court Painter and friends in his studio, which was then circulated on Twitter , causing a wave of mixed reactions.

Please note: This is not a painting…it’s a photograph!

A rather wordy interview was self conducted in the presence of citizen journalists in Court Painter’s tony studio in Inglewood, a hipster district of Calgary. The following expurgated version has been posted .

“I talked about it a lot , man, because, I mean, it’s sensitive isn’t it?” says Court Painter from his cramped studio in Inglewood. “Because I personally don’t agree with like all that Dr. Peterson has to say, and I had a lot of conversations and inner dialogue with myself about how and if I should like respond. What didn’t feel right was a tweet or an Instagram, because it felt more nuanced than that and it felt like I’d love to have, like, a conversation, man”

Like, one of the wonderful things about my stand up straight Press Attache A Hardon MacKay , like he’s had such an open door policy on portrait commissions and we’ve brought in so many people that I can paint and share the fumes. … I primarily was very interested in Dr. Peterson’s work on psychology, I knew he put words in  books  and I found them like very, very interesting and met him through Youtube videos and invited him down to the studio for a commissioned portrait , which was very interesting and one of many interesting sittings I’ve had in the studio.Did I mention like it was interesting?

I don’t think that painting a portrait of someone means you agree with like everything they say. We disagreed right off the bat on the froggy merits of Pepe and Kermit . Anyway as long as the credit card goes through I accept whatever the sitter stands for as long as like the bars stay open after midnight. Because  I am able to paint a portrait of anyone at risk of offending liberals I don’t see the harm in engaging in a bit of painterly pitter patter splatter. And as I said earlier, like primarily I’m interested in the good doctor’s psychological head stuff that is about girly power,desirability of white heterosexual male patriarchs skateboarding and calling a spade a spade instead of mixing up pronouns which I am dead against certainly among polite company  in the studio. Anyway I find it very interesting. Did I mention I find it like interesting?

You know I have become an artistic figurehead  especially in art celebrity culture. Its like, as a portraitist of  political and celebrity  personages, I didn’t sign up to paint because I wanted to try and be a role model to vulnerable males and be interviewed by CBC or to be a political thinker and be heard on my view of politics.

I just want the biggest slice of the celebrity fame and fortune pie that I so richly deserve.

Court Painter as seen at the farmers market every Saturday

I love the opportunity to  disagree and I think that’s something that’s at risk of being quashed to much of an extent among my caucasian buddies. I have made my fortune and celebrity art status by confining my product to mostly disagreeable white male power subjects because they are like so plentiful.They breed like rabbits. And really, I’m tired of listening — I think I sometimes listen like too much about what I should paint, I think we listen too much as a culture — But I think it’s precisely why Peterson and Sam Harris and all these other pale guys are having these two or three-hour-long conversations on podcasts, and that those things are like so popular, is because these are incredibly long and nuanced conversations to have. I mean, as fascinating as it is, I’m not sure I’m going to have the time to get in all my opinions on one of those in the time we’ve got now. But I think that myself as like Court Painter I am definitely not very interested in the public discourse generally and like all the things that are going on.I mean like if it isn’t one thing it’s another!

I want to be a force of artistic disgruntlement. I think the world needs that like right now. And I find the divisive side of things is something that I find inspiring and am grateful that it’s such a dominant part of the discourse right now,especially in my studio and local bar. And  if there is any opportunity to make me like richer and smell better through disgruntlement I think that’s what I am like excited about.Let me explain…..

At that point Press Attache A Hardon MacKay stepped in and demanded everyones recording device, sputtering that the Court Painter enterprise has an artistic mission that is agnostic to the political and ideological currents of modern times and Court Painter’s remarks should not be taken out of context because he was just feeling tired,  cranky and entitled.