On February 2, German artist Niclas Castello debuted an $11.7 million “Gold Cube” artwork in New York’s Central Park, which was on display for one day only. The 410 pounds (186 kilograms) cube is said to be constructed of “pure, 24-carat, 999.9 fine gold.” According to Castello’s official news release, the gold cube required over 4500 hours of labor and was created by Art Foundry H. Rüetschi in Aarau (Switzerland). The paper also reveals that the artwork supports the artist’s cryptocurrency, Castello Coin. On Wednesday, a security squad was stationed near the gold cube. Castello had earlier teased the gold cube by driving numerous trucks around Times Square while displaying unknown coordinates of the area.
What is known about Niclas Castello?
Niclas Castello was part of the German street art community in the late 1990s before moving to Paris in 2003. The Neuhaus am Rennweg native then relocated to New York, where he created the most of his creative style. During that period, Castello worked on a variety of art projects in galleries in the United States and Europe. Castello acknowledges American video artist Arleen Schloss as his mentor in the biography part of his website. He supposedly lived with her for two years at Schloss’ home in New York. The German artist is now based in New York and Switzerland.
New in NYC: A cube made from $11.7 million worth of solid gold is sitting in Central Park—and has its own security detail: https://t.co/DTsqhgCcbc pic.twitter.com/5kXUDSVnS9
— Artnet (@artnet) February 2, 2022
Castello’s work
The artist is well-known for his sculptures such as The Kiss and his highly lauded piece, Cube-Painting-Sculpture (released in 2016). Among his other creations are a number of cube-inspired buildings. According to Artnet, Castello presently has around 20 artworks for sale. There are six paintings and nine sculptures, as well as prints and installations. While some of his sculptures and paintings are only accessible at auction, others may be acquired for exorbitantly expensive sums. Meanwhile, his print works range in price from $20,000 to $30,000.
