Disgraced Miami art dealer tries his hand at selling Labubus-or are they 'Lafufus'?

"The disgraced Miami art dealer Les Roberts appears to be back in business with a new hustle-selling Labubus. In April, Roberts's Miami Fine Art Gallery was raided by the FBI and he was charged with wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering for selling forged Andy Warhol works. According to Naomi Feinstein of Miami New Times, Roberts is now running a shop called Labubu Headquarters in Miami's Coconut Grove neighbourhood."

"At the store this past weekend, preteens and university students alike stopped in their tracks as soon as they spotted a large Labubu-priced at $1,000-inside. Labubus, the popular figurines of furry monsters, come in a range of sizes and have become a global sensation. (They even made an appearance at Art Basel in Switzerland this summer.) At Roberts's shop, the creatures start at an accessible $35."

"After all, in June a giant Labubu sold for more than $170,000 at the first "Labubu art auction", hosted by Yongle Auction in China. The event drew almost 1,000 bidders. And the critic Arthur Danto-who spent a lot of time in his book The Transfiguration of the Commonplace (1981) asking what is and is not art-concluded that Brillo boxes, silence, Coca-Cola bottles, performances and stillness could all be art."

Les Roberts, charged with wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering after an FBI raid on his Miami Fine Art Gallery, is operating Labubu Headquarters in Coconut Grove. The shop sells Labubus figurines — furry monster collectibles — with prices starting near $35 and larger pieces displayed at about $1,000. Roberts's bond conditions bar him from selling art or working in the art industry, raising questions about whether expensive Labubus, including a reported $170,000 sale in China that drew almost 1,000 bidders, should be considered art. Journalists who bought a Labubu from the shop received inconclusive authentication results, and Pop Mart confirmed the store is not an authorized seller.

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