Earlier in 2007, Target and the Art Production Fund came out with a series of four artist-designed towels.
The 2007 series (seen below) was a big hit and Target sold out of all four almost immediately. As a big Alex Katz fan, I immediately bought two of his. The towels are nice and large 60″ x 70″ and well worth the $50.00 for which they originally retailed.
2014 UPDATE: If you can find them, these now retail for hundreds of dollars!
2008 Artist Series Beach Towels
Now, Target and Art Production Fund have announced the lineup of guest artists for their second-annual collaboration of fine-art towels known as the Artist Towel Series 2008.
Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Elizabeth Peyton, and Kehinde Wiley have each created a limited-edition beach towel as part of the WOW (Works on Whatever) items designed by contemporary artists to bring art off the walls and into everyday life.
They include “Balloon Monkey,” “Woman in Pool,” “Sidney,” and “African-American Man.” The 60 x 70-inch cotton towels, which will be available starting November 19 for $50 on Target.com and worksonwhatever.com, will also be the official pool towels for André Balazs’ Raleigh Hotel during Art Basel Miami Beach December 5 to 9.
Proceeds from sales will support Art Production Fund’s mission to support major civic artwork projects, while half of all proceeds generated from sales of Koons’ towel will also support the Koons Family Institute, a resource of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
Buy ’em quick, they don’t stay in stock for long.