Bubbles The Chimp Paints Abstracts, Among the boldface names you won’t be expecting to find exhibiting at Art Basel Miami Beach is Bubbles, Michael Jackson’s erstwhile chimpanzee companion.
His paintings -- two moody abstracts each priced at $1,500 -- feature in “Endangered,” a fundraiser in aid of the Center for Great Apes, the sanctuary where he’s lived for eight years.
Set in woodland near the Peace River some 200 miles north of Miami, it’s not ordinarily open to the public. Its residents live in a network of geodesic domes connected by elevated walkways, while staff zip around on golf carts below, their walkie-talkies squawking like tropical birds.
Bubbles isn’t the only celebrity here. Founded by Patti Ragan in 1993, the sanctuary shelters 29 chimps and 15 orangutans. Some are refugees from the exotic pet trade, a few have come from biomedical research labs and many spent time in showbiz.
Twin chimps Jacob and Jonah starred in Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes” remake. Maggie has been on “The Tonight Show” and, with Bella and Ellie, appeared in Career Builder commercials.
Of the orangutans, Geri, whose beauty mark earned her the nickname Geri Crawford, appeared in the Flintstones movie. Bam Bam, a teenage male, cross-dressed as Nurse Precious in the soap opera “Passions,” and Tango was a face of Tang.
In captivity, chimpanzees can live to be 60, orangutans 50. Yet by around six years old, all had reached the ends of their careers, growing too big and too strong-willed to manage.
Read More:Bloomberg
