ok I went to all those link and looked at the pics of his work, and I guess I just don't like his work. I'm no learned art critic, just someone who appreciates talent(read:effort in creation) in art. I wouldn't compare Marilyn Manson to Beethoven, tho I enjoy both, or Yves Klein to Rembrandt. They are both on totally different sides of the same field, in talent and style. Even Dali makes more sense to me than this guy's work. He's almost as bad as Andres Serrano, who jerks off in cow blood and mixes it and then throws it on glass and calls it art.
If can duplicate it with my complete lack of artisitc talent it is not art. I can't shoot a mountain like Ansel Adams or paint a courtyard like Monet, but I can set canvases on fire and paint canvases white. Shit, I painted my kid's room 3 more colors than that and even did a scallop design as a border...am I an artist then? No, just a guy with a brush and some paint who isn't pretentious enough to call it art.
from the last site in your linkage:
In 1958, Klein created a stir in Paris by exhibiting an empty gallery painted white, entitled ‘Le Vide’, The Void.
In my world this is called a gimmick, not art. I'd be fired for bringing an empty stack of papers as my report that was due that day. Art is work when you expect it to feed you, and this to me does not warrant a paycheck. Just my opinion, and I know I differ from others. If
you like it, that's more impotant than my opinion anyway.