Goodbye Anna Delvey, High Society Scammers. Hello Anna Sorokin, Artist

Is Anna “Delvey” Sorokin an artist, and could that help her stay in America? The scam social site is the subject and star of the Lower East Side performing arts opening tomorrow, March 17, “Free Anna Delvey!”

The exhibition opens with the participation of Sorokin, the star of the hugely popular Netflix series Invented Annais still (at the time of writing) detained and resists deportation to Germany.

Co-curator Alfredo Martinez said the exhibition features work by more than two dozen artists, largely related to Sorokin’s tabloid history, and 25% of sales are pledged to her. According to him, the event also featured an artwork by Anna Delvey, “Send Bitcoin.” It was an enlarged, colored image of one of her drawings and was collaborated with Martinez, he said. Not coincidentally, he served federally two decades ago for impersonating Jean-Michel Basquiats on loan from Sotheby’s.

“I’m working as her assistant,” says Martinez, who notes that people who work in the studio and such arrangements are common in the art world (from Rembrandt to Jeff Koons).

The performing arts show was first leaked on the Clubhouse social media app. Painter and Bright hot Magazine founder and publisher Noah Becker, whose works will also appear in the exhibition, runs a vibrant Friday Art Chat room with young artist John Barrymore in Miami.

Becker, founder of Bright hot and its podcast, says he spoke with Sorokin from the Orange County jail about the performing arts and she’s looking forward to it — “She wants to make sure whatever she does is legal. ” She wanted to “push her story out of her past behaviour”.

Indeed, the performing arts may serve a deeper purpose for Delvey. The USCIS has an exempt category for “advertising”, the so-called O-1 visa, and Delvey can hope as an artist she meets its very specific criteria. The O-1 visa is “for individuals of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or sports, or who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the film or television industry.” and have received national or international recognition for those accomplishments,” according to USCIS.

Sorokin really seems to define himself as an artist, noted in a recent podcast interview from prison with Bright hot, that people are saying “I’m like Warhol, in a suit.” However, she is not properly trained, she admits. Before being detained, “I am not necessarily an artist but I did take some fashion illustrator courses,” Sorokin said. But while in prison, she said, art became a comfortable and immutable thing.

Sorokin was charged in 2018 with fleeing New York City’s elite, bankers, hotels and restaurants by posing as a German heiress. She was found guilty of petty theft in 2019 and sentenced to 4 years in prison. She was released in 2021 for good conduct and was scheduled to be deported back to Germany earlier this week but had a plane crash, according to her immigration lawyer.

Sorokin’s criminal attorney Manny Arora did not return calls seeking comment. His office referred us to her commercial attorney, Ira Meyerowitz, who did not receive phone messages and did not respond to emails seeking comment. We were asked to contact many of the other attorneys and regulators involved, but they were identified only by name, such as “Blake” or “Gregori.”

Indeed, many people around Delvey only identify themselves by their first name and are a bit difficult to track down. Julia Morrison, co-manager of the show “Free Anna Delvey”, said many people are surrounding her “to make money”. “They want to create an NFT [digital artwork] her f-ing toothbrush. ”

The Orange County Correctional Facility in Goshen, NY, refused to pass on messages to inmates, saying only messages from attorneys would be delivered. Their website says she has since been released, but not necessarily from state custody.

The opening of the exhibition was open to invitees only, but it attracted at least a suitable audience. A major New York art collector — shortly after he took a private tour of Sotheby’s upcoming auctions this week — has confirmed he’ll be stopping by. He says he’s a fan of Sorokin, or her ambition, but he hasn’t pulled out his wallet yet. “The drawing has no signature,” he noted incredulously.