Ariana Grande Has Settled Her Legal Battle With the Artist Who Claimed Her Music Video Ripped Off His Empowering Candle Paintings

Pop star Ariana Grande and artist Vladimir Kush have settled their legal dispute. The
singer stood accused of ripping off a pair of Kush’s paintings in
the music video for her hit single “God Is a Woman.”

Kush’s lawyer, Mark G. Tratos, filed a notice of voluntary
dismissal with Nevada district court on Friday, stating that “the
parties have reached a resolution.” The terms of the settlement,
which was first reported by the Blast, have not been
disclosed, other than to note that both Grande and Kush will pay
their own legal bills.

At three points in the music video, which also contains
references to Michelangelo’s Sistine
Chapel fresco The Creation of
Adam, Grande appears in silhouette form, her body taking
the place of the wick in a lit candle framed against a cloudy sky.
The imagery was remarkably similar to Kush’s paintings The
Candle and The Candle 2, painted in 1999
and 2000, respectively.

The Russian-American artist had sought unspecified damages and
for the video to be removed from YouTube. Post settlement, it is
still live, with the contested imagery unedited.

Kush isn’t exactly a household name, but he’s attracted a steady
stream of clients for his unique brand of kitschy Surrealism, which
he has dubbed Metaphorical Realism.

The artist sells his work through his own company, Kush
Fine Arts Las Vegas, which has galleries in Maui, Laguna
Beach, and inside Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas (a similar business
structure to that employed by artists like photographer Peter Lik
and the late Thomas Kinkade). Although Kush told Artsy his paintings can
sell for as much as $100,000, the artnet Price Database has record of
only one record of his work reselling at auction, for $8,000 back
in 2013.

Grande’s music video was the work of director Dave Meyers and
production company Freenjoy, Inc., both of whom
previously faced legal action for allegedly copying the distinctive
paintings of Lina Iris
Viktor in Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “All the Stars” music
video. That case settled last year, but
Meyers is currently facing yet another suit over similarities
between a Billie Eilish video
and photographs from Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo
Ferrari’s satirical art magazine Toiletpaper.

The post Ariana Grande Has Settled Her Legal Battle With the
Artist Who Claimed Her Music Video Ripped Off His Empowering Candle
Paintings appeared first on artnet News.