Occupy Gaga: Artist Camps Out, Vandalizes Department Store Windows

From Madonna to Bowie to Bette Midler, Lady Gaga has been accused of copying every ingenue under the sun. But New York street legend Colette (also known as “Colette The Artist”) has decided to take Gagaloo to task over her Barneys’ windows, which the performance artist claims borrow directly from her older work. For a short film made by documentarian Josh Gilbert, Colette heads to midtown to camp out in front of the Gaga display, painting her name in front of the windows while Gaga hits play to the street. “When I get 20 million phone calls and emails about all the windows in Barneys…but nobody’s doing something about it…I have to take charge,” Colette says about feeling plagiarized.

While Colette has certainly revolutionized street art (and Gaga is known for “borrowing” symbols and styles of her predecessors), do over-the-top window dressings necessarily count as direct stealing? Or is Gaga, at this point, just a target for artists due to her visibility?

Looking For Lady Gaga from Josh Gilbert on Vimeo.

Photos: Courtesy of Colette and Josh Gilbert