ART NEWS: Manhattan, New York - Manhattan’s Chelsea art district was flooded earlier last month with A-list celebrities, art buyers and a crowd of over 3,500 fans eager to meet the city’s hottest artist and view his latest “Erotic Allure” series exhibited at Caelum Gallery.  Art icon Marko Stout’s exhibition had all the hoopla of a Hollywood movie premiere, complete with a celebrity lined red-carpet. Among celebrities to attend the artist’s opening night VIP party were Sarah Jessica Parker from HBO’s “Sex in the City”, Canadian rapper Drake, adult film star Jesse Jane and a few stars from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and DragCon which included Jaymes Mansfield, Trinity Taylor, Sherry Vine and Shanglea.

The list of the Stout’s celebrity fans and collectors is extensive, famed art dear Taylor Cohen said of the artist, “I’ve not seen this kind of excitement for an opening since Jeff Koon’s retrospective at the Whiney Museum or the Basquiat exhibition”.

Many of Marko Stout’s celebrity fans have posted brief YouTube videos congratulating the artist on his long-awaited exhibition. “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” star Catilyn Jenner is a big fan and talks about being very excited for the artist’s show ion her video.  Shanglea another big fan wished the artist a major “con-drag-ulations” and went on to talk of Stout’s “charisma, uniqueness, never and talent”. Carson Kressley, star of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” talked extensively in his video about being a really huge fan of the artist and quipping, “Marko Stout’s work is Amaz-Balls!” Another celebrity fan of Stout’s is “Million Dollar Listing LA” star Madison Hildebrand who said, “Thank you for sharing your art with us! The world is excited to see it!”

MTV’s Snooki from the hit series “The Jersey Shore” is another big fan of the artist and when asked she said, “I love Marko Stout, his work is totally awesome!”. Carla Mund, “Miss America 2018” is also a fan of the artist saying, “I’m also an art scholar and really big fan! Marko Stout is an inspiration for all future artists”.

The artist’s celebrity fans also include Pussycat Dolls lead singer Kaya Jones who said, “Marko Stout’s art is amazing! He’s totally crushing it!” and “The Girls Next Door” star Holly Madison who said of the exposition,” it’s so exciting! I think Marko Stout is really cool!”.

The artist’s popularity hit new heights after “Entrepreneur Magazine” ran an article last summer listing Marko Stout as #3 on its list of “14 of the Hottest Brands to Watch Out For”. After this article and his sold out show at New York’s Gallery MC last summer, the artist’s status grow from local New York cult artist to that of art icon at the top of the art world.

Marko Stout’s exhibition at Caelum Gallery was clearly the big winner of Fall 2018 art season in New York City with a huge number of sales- this comes at a time when most of the city’s art galleries sales are down and many closing their doors permanently.  Despite this currently depressed art market Marko Stout remains the exception with his sales and crowd growing with each exhibition. He’s currently New York’s artist of the moment with many in the media comparing him to Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons.