Five Artists in the News: James Rosenquist’s F-111 Soars at Auction, Jeff Koons’ Moon Launch Lifts Off (Finally), and Jesse Darling Says The Art World Is a Bonfire of the Vanities

James Rosenquist’s F-111 soared at the Phillips' auction in New York from the artist’s estate, which exceeded the pre-sale high estimate. The four monumental lithographs inspired by the US fighter-bomber sold for $228,600, 600% above its $30,000 low estimate.

Jeff Koons’s “Moons” sculptures have finally launched onboard a SpaceX rocket in a lunar lander, which is due to carry 125 one-inch miniature sculptures to the Moon, ARTnews reports. Meanwhile, Koons' NFTs and larger sculptures remain on the Earth.

Lee Mingwei's interactive installation, Letter Writing Project, goes on show at the De Young Museum in San Francisco this weekend. Visitors are invited to sit and write a letter they have always meant to send but never did.

Damien Hirst's Virtues, a HENI Edition, and Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Can were among the 70% of lots selling above their low estimate at Phillips’ editions auction.

Jesse Darling, the Berlin-based 2023 Turner Prize winner, says the contemporary art world is “very conservative”. She tells Observer: “It’s basically about tax breaks and a kind of Bonfire of the Vanities and it’s a rich man’s game.”