Art show to open as forgery lawsuit nears end in U.S.
Two events coincide for artist who sees time spent on case as simply part of his journey
A Toronto artist is fighting a legal battle in Nevada courts over what an alleged forger’s legal team is calling an issue of freedom of expression.
The artist, Marco Sassone, discovered what he says are forgeries of his artwork being sold online three years ago.
“It was a big shock,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do.”
Now, a civil case that Sassone, 74, brought against alleged fraudster Darrell T. Coker is scheduled for a settlement conference at the Supreme Court of Nevada just days before the opening of his latest art show at Berenson Fine Art in Toronto on Nov. 9.
It was in October 2014 that Sassone received a Google alert notification that one of his lithographs, a type of print, was for sale.
But, Sassone said, he’s never done lithographs. The only print medium he’s worked in is silk screen — and, he added, he’d never done a silk screen of that particular work. His suspicion mounting, he zoomed in on the signature to examine it more closely.
“I go, ‘Jesus Christ, this is not me,’ ” he said.
While the case was initially investigated by the RCMP and then passed over to the FBI, Sassone said the case stalled. So he found a lawyer in Las Vegas and took Coker and a few others involved to court.
Coker’s lawyers sought to have the case dismissed under the AntiSLAPP Act, which protects against meritless lawsuits against first amendment rights. Their motion was denied by the state court, but they have since appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Nevada.
No court has ruled on whether Coker reproduced and distributed any of Sassone’s work, but his defence lawyer, Marc Randazza, argues that “even if he did, he had a right to do so.”
Randazza’s argument is based on the idea that Sassone’s works are in the public domain and Coker had the right to reproduce and distribute those works — regardless of whether he actually did — based on his rights to free expression.
If, as Randazza argues, the case in- volves freedom of expression then, he says, Anti-SLAPP legislation should apply.
“We guard freedom of expression very jealously here,” he said.
One of Sassone’s lawyers, Clyde DeWitt, meanwhile, said Coker made cheap copies of Sassone’s work and passed them off as originals.
“Deceptive advertising is not protected by the first amendment,” he said, adding that “freedom of speech does not protect the right to lie about something to get money.”
“You don’t have to be a lawyer to know that you’re not supposed to do that,” he said.
The case has since been referred to a mandatory settlement program. If a settlement isn’t reached, the question of whether it can be dismissed under Anti-SLAPP laws will go before the Supreme Court of Nevada. If the lower court’s decision is upheld, the case could go to trial.
In the meantime, artists concerned about the authenticity of any Sassone works can contact his studio at marco@marcosassone.com.
Though Sassone said the case cost him a year of working on paintings, he views it as part of his journey, which is also the theme of his upcoming show Viaticus, a Latin word that means belonging to a journey.
The collection of paintings to be shown, some of which date back to the 1980s, represent some form of journey — whether through time, as portrayed by his representation of ancient Rome, or through space, depicted as train tracks with a distant Toronto skyline in the background.
While Randazza is on the opposite side of Sassone’s case, he said he really admires the artist’s work.
“Toronto is lucky to have such a treasure,” he said.