Somehow, some way, Chris Burden and the Beverly Hills Gagosian Gallery aim to acquire 100 gold bars, combined value about $3.3 million, in the very near future.
What's in question is whether they'll cop that bling -- needed for Burden's latest piece, "One Ton, One Kilo" -- in time for its scheduled Saturday opening at the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills.
The gold bars originally purchased for the exhibit have been frozen under an order by federal authorities. Reuters reported last week that Gagosian bought the gold in January from a company owned by R. Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire accused of perpetrating an $8 billion financial fraud.
Gagosian spokeswoman Michelle Pobar said Monday that "we have our lawyers working on" freeing up the gold shipment. "We have every intention of moving forward with the exhibition. It just may be delayed . . . a week or two," Pobar said.
-- Mike Boehm
