Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Kanye WestUPDATE: E! News received a statement from a rep at Blum & Poe gallery, saying the piece is not for sale.
"Unfortunately that was misinformation—the work was never for sale, is not currently for sale, and a price has not been discussed nor agreed upon."
Kanye West's rep released the following statement as well: "We are incredibly flattered that a number is being reported but at no point have we ever disclosed a sale price for the piece. The writer whose story was published in the NY Times unfortunately based his reporting on hearsay, conjecture, uninvolved third parties and the lack of fact checking. Once again we are flattered by such interest, but as far as Mr. West is concerned—it's all about the art. We are looking forward to announcing when Famous will be available again for viewing."
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What do you get for a life-size, silicon recreation of 12 of the biggest names in pop culture all sleeping together (totally naked) in one bed?
Four. Million. Dollars.
That's right, the Los Angeles Blum & Poe gallery that displayed Kanye West's lifelike "Famous" sculpture is looking for seven figures for the massive piece.
Though this might seem outlandish at first, Blum (of Blum & Poe) told The New York Times it's reasonable once you calculate the materials needed, labor and the simple attachment to Kanye's name. "I would project a figure about that," Blum said.
Not only are the 12 individuals—including Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Donald Trump, Ray J, Rihanna, Chris Brown and more—depicted almost identically to their real-life selves in the sculpture, but they also move. Batteries power the figures to breathe, causing their chests to rise and fall as though they're truly in deep sleep.
"This was made for the music video. No one would have been able to tell [how] those sculptures were moving, which means he's going above and beyond," Aaron Axelrod, a Los Angeles artist (who took the world by storm with his 3-D mapping of Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House) told The Times. "This caught me off guard. It's one of the coolest pieces I've ever seen."
Interestingly enough, despite the insane, intricate details that went into creating the masterpiece, 'Ye was never planning to showcase it...until 5 days before the display opened.
"I think Monday of last week, I got a call from Scooter Braun," Blum recalled the conversation with one of the rapper's managers. "Kanye suddenly felt the urge to show the work. Long story short, we made it happen. We pushed some things around and five days later, we had a show. Monday hey, Friday open."
As for the multi-million dollar price tag now associated with the piece, Blum said they'll definitely sell it to "the right buyer," but that was never the point.
"To be honest, we did it for the sake of doing it," Blum admitted. "The show and project were not done with price or sale in mind. But I would act upon it as every other piece of art I handle."
Blum says he hopes to see the piece purchased by a big museum, like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art or the Museum of Contemporary Art.