Talk:Conor Mccreedy

Dislaimers
I very much enjoy this artist's work, but do not have a connection to him at all. Moreover, I virtually rewrote this entire page and eliminated almost all of the text written by the previous contributor. As such, the "Close Connection" disclaimer should be removed.Biofuelsfreak (talk) 06:42, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

I do not understand what text in this article is written in an overly promotional tone. All of the text is objective information taken from outside sources, with almost no illustrative language. Please clarify why the "Promotional Tone" disclaimer is still at the top, and what needs to be done for it to come down.Biofuelsfreak (talk) 06:42, 26 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Biofuelsfreak, it is obviously apparent from your bias (I mean, why would "just a fan" rewrite the entire page?) as well as your insistence to rid this page of those disclaimers that you are part of this ridiculous charade which no doubt will be exposed to show that this "famous artist" is none other than a spoilt, delusional young man making up for his incompetence as an artist using mommy and daddy's money in order to feed his inappropriately enormous ego.(Domino1501 (talk) 16:46, 29 April 2014 (UTC))

Checking some of the sources for the boldest claims, Mccreedy was not GQ South Africa's best dressed man of 2012 (it was Tyrone Keogh) and the statement that he is "the highest priced artist under the age of 30" was not supported by either of the sources provided. A lot of the sources, previously given simple formatting which did not clearly show their origin, are WP:PRIMARY or dead (including the one that purported to support the GQ award).

The article has been largely written by six single-purpose accounts over the years -, , , , and. The first of those editors claimed to own the copyright to text from Mccreedy's website when creating this article, and went quiet when a DRN discussion questioned how this could be true when the editor was also denying any conflict of interest. --McGeddon (talk) 10:37, 3 June 2014 (UTC)


 * Several sockpuppets of User:Thandi moyo, an editor who claimied to be a South African arts council employee with no direct conflict of interest, have now been blocked, including User:Michael J Palmer who was busy writing about Mccreedy's lion charity and professed confusion at the suggestion he had a conflict of interest. Given this context, I'll start going through the article and cutting anything which isn't scrupulously sourced. --McGeddon (talk) 13:45, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

Contested deletion
This page should not be speedy deleted because... --Rusty69t (talk) 22:09, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

I hereby assert that I am the creator and/or sole owner of the exclusive copyright of Conor Mathew Mccreedy articles I agree to publish that work under the free license Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY). I acknowledge that I grant anyone the right to use the work in a commercial product, and to modify it according to their needs, as long as they abide by the terms of the license and any other applicable laws. I am aware that I always retain copyright of my work, and retain the right to be attributed in accordance with the license chosen. Modifications others make to the work will not be attributed to me. I am aware that the free license only concerns copyright, and I reserve the option to take action against anyone who uses this work in a libelous way, or in violation of personality rights, trademark restrictions, etc. I acknowledge that I cannot withdraw this agreement, and that the work may or may not be kept permanently on a Wikimedia project. July 18, 2011 Gerhard Debryn

If the above is not enough for you please let me know what I have to do to prove it to you, Please don't just delete this article without giving me a fair chance to prove I have the right to post this content. I think it is unfair of the editors to just delete article because they think the user does not have the proper copy right on a specific article or its content without even giving the user the right answers as to how he/she can prove they have the legal right to post the specific article or its contents.

citation needed
The content below is obvious in the artists works I don't see why I need to give citation for it

Best known for his accurate lines and fluid colors, Mccreedy has begun to incorporate elements of self-written language, collage, and charcoals to his paintings.[citation needed] As he continues to grow as a painter, Mccreedy has begun to work within other artistic mediums, notably, sculpture, to adapt to his broadening interest in natural forms and figures. Mccreedy's works emanate from a restrained palette. When painting, Mcreedy seeks to create a complete image using only rare blue pigments and white enamel.[citation needed] Conor Mccreedy’s work has drawn the interest of international curators, gallery owners, collectors and established artists. He is the youngest artist in history to have a solo exhibition at National Arts Club].[18]a fixture in the New York art world, located in Gramercy Park. Though Mccreedy admits that his works tend towards ambiguity and contradiction, to incomplete movement and indecisive endings, he embraces this quality of his work.[citation needed] Mccreedy’s newest endeavor is inspired by expressionism; he experiments with indigo blues and periwinkle industrial pigments in his newest series.[User:Rusty69t][talk:Rusty69t] — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rusty69t (talk • contribs) 06:24, 21 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia is based on verifiability not truth. Nobody knows that any of that is "obvious from the artist's works".  Also, without citations, it becomes original research. Ryan Vesey  contribs  14:48, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Why does the last line of the opening paragraph need a different citation? This article is a verifiable source: http://conormccreedy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Sunday-Times-The-Times-E-Edition-SA-artist.pdf. While it is linked to through the artist's website, it is an article from a South African newspaper.Biofuelsfreak (talk) 06:42, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

Copyright permission
The original author of this page,, has said that they have sent a request via OTRS to use some of the text in this article. For details, please see Dispute resolution noticeboard. —  Mr. Stradivarius ♫ 00:42, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 May 2014
Please remove, on display at the Everard Read Gallery in Johannesburg]]

Thandi moyo (talk) 13:02, 14 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. — &#123;&#123;U&#124;Technical 13&#125;&#125; (t • e • c) 14:36, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

"Secret Movements"
Is there a source other than a crude press-clipping screenshot on McCreedy's own website that one of his artworks sold for approximately $180,000? Can anybody verify the original South African Sunday Times article? I haven't been able to find anything in available reliable sources. --McGeddon (talk) 10:53, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Per the earlier thread about conflict of interest editors adding false information to this article, I shall cut this pending a confirmed source. --McGeddon (talk) 13:45, 14 July 2014 (UTC)
 * I am going to continue to slice things down and find sources to develop the article. 18:45, 27 August 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dollface Canon (talk • contribs)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:45, 22 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Mccreedyblue pigment process.jpg

This article seems to attract conflict of interest editors
Just a heads up that this article seems to attract conflict of interest editors. Based on comments up above this seems to have been going on since at least 2014.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&oldid=1174248587

Special:MobileDiff/1173803263

Special:Contributions/Rietvlei

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Rietvlei

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Ghostwriterwiki (Photo of Conor and one of his works uploaded by user called “Ghostwriterwiki”)

Certainly more users than just these two but I can’t look more through the page history right now. Justanotherguy54 (talk) 10:31, 7 September 2023 (UTC)


 * Indeed. The page has been permanently semi-protected to help prevent this. The most recent additions by have been reported at WP:ANI as there was some apparent gaming of the system to circumvent the page protection. Regarding the content that they added, the following discussion is being moved here:


 * The majority of new content is "reported by" or "according to" "Carol Real from Art Summit", but the referenced article all falls under the heading "Artist Statement" and is clearly a non-independent primary source. As a result I am inclined to roll it back in its entirety, but as I am anyway here I'll await comment before doing so. Dorsetonian (talk) 07:22, 7 September 2023 (UTC)


 * I’m not an admin but I think that user’s 10k edit should be reverted. Just at a second’s glance anyone can see that the lede looks like it would be featured on that person’s website, like the sentence “He is regarded as one of the most outstanding creatives of our time.” which appears to be solely based on this, a singular description for one of his products which is listed for sale on a marketplace website. I’m fairly certain that user’s edits break WP:NPOV and WP:UNDUEWEIGHT and likely many more I can’t think of right now. Justanotherguy54 (talk) 09:55, 7 September 2023 (UTC)


 * I propose that we do roll Rietvlei's edits back. Dorsetonian (talk) 13:10, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Whilst I was writing the above, other editors did indeed roll the changes back. Dorsetonian (talk) 13:34, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Rolling back the COI editor's edits is the best thing to do now given the contributions' promotional nature. Frankly though I reckon that, Wikipedia would benefit the most if good content was "rescued" from the COI version, which I suppose is possible with a reasonable amount of effort. For instance, the COI version's infobox picture is a 2023 picture with proper attribution, whereas the previous picture is very likely a copyright violation. The exhibitions section was sourced in the COI editor's revision, and is now unsourced. The paintings present in that revision are a good example of Mccreedy's art. Why not include them, especially considering that they have a permissions tag and are thus free to use? There also is a Blick citation at the very end that has some merit. I assume per WP:AGF that there's more good in there, but I haven't had a chance at having a more thorough look. Best, --102.134.200.36 (talk) 07:59, 8 September 2023 (UTC)

Edit Request
I suppose it's good if someone actually starts improving the article, so here's my go, I would like to propse the following changes to be made to the article:


 * Infobox picture: The current picture (Conor Mccreedy Portrait 19.jpg) has dubious author information — I doubt that "Ghostwriterwiki" is the photographer who took the picture during a Forbes interview — the picture is likely a copyvio. Instead, I propse File:ConorMcCreedyByXandraLinsin.jpg, which has proper author information and a permissions tag. It is also a more recent depiction of the article's subject.
 * BLP sources section tag in the exhibitions section: The Exhibitions section has a "BLP sources section" tag. I suggest removing this tag as the section has reasonable inline citations.
 * Personal life section: Extend the section's first sentence to: Mccreedy was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1987, to a South African mother and a French-Irish father. This addition provides further biographical information and is reasonably sourced with an article in The South African.
 * Designs section: To the design section, I suggest adding a new paragraph discussing Mccreedy's collaboration with Suzanne Syz. This was portrayed in the Swiss newspaper Blick, generally a reliable source: Mccreedy collaborated with Swiss collector and jewellery designer Suzanne Syz to make one of the world's most valuable blue sapphire brooches with a value exceeding CHF 300,000. It is over 170 carats, and incorporated into Mccreedy’s work Falco Columbarius Portrait, in the eye of a falcon.

—-41.13.84.223 (talk) 09:04, 20 September 2023 (UTC) 41.13.84.223 (talk) 09:04, 20 September 2023 (UTC)

Reply 20-SEP-2023
Regards, Spintendo  20:24, 20 September 2023 (UTC)
 * 1) ✅ The infobox image was updated.
 * 2) ✅ The information regarding the mother and father's heritage was updated.
 * 3) ❌ The  template was not removed. It is recommended that, as a courtesy, you first try asking the editor who assigned the template — in this case  — in order to find out from them if it can be removed. Since they placed the template, they are in the best position to know whether or not the issues which caused its placement have been corrected. You may contact them directly by placing a new message on their talk page.
 * 4) ❌ The information regarding the collaboration with Syz was not added, because that individual does not appear to be independently notable in Wikipedia. If they are, please provide the Wikilink to their article.


 * Re item 3 - I have removed the template. The section is considerably better referenced than it was when tagged and I would not have tagged it as it is now. It would still be nice to have refs for the couple of exhibitions still without them. Dorsetonian (talk) 18:07, 21 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the implementation of the requested edits. I have got one question though: Why was the collaboration with Suzanne Syz not implemented? While Wikipedia doesn't have an article on her, collaborations with her have previously been described on Wikipedia, cf. Nicolas Trembley.
 * Best regards——105.214.82.221 (talk) 07:47, 29 September 2023 (UTC)

Edit Request 6 October 2023
Thank you for implementing my suggestions. I have a few more of them to improve and update the article:


 * Personal life section: I suggest slightly extending the section with additional information about his early life and his current residence. The information is sourced from an article by Art Summit written by an independent author. A possible phrasing could be: In 1993, at the age of six, Mccreedy painted his first artwork. Raised in Cape Town and Kwa-Zulu Natal, he names the African bush and the oceans as some of his inspirations. Mccreedy lives in South Africa and Switzerland.
 * Charity section: In most of the articles cited in this section, Mccreedy is only mentioned alongside other donors. Another more recent source from Biz Community focuses on Mccreedy specifically, so I propose adding the following phrase: In 2023 Mccreedy donated over US$40,000 of the sale proceeds from one of his works to the Drops of Life Foundation, which is providing clean drinking water to communities in Africa.
 * Artwork section: My suggestion here is to update and expand the current sentence "His paintings have sold for up to US$150,000". In July 2023 he sold an art piece for over US$420,000. The article I propose is by Art News Africa and can also be used as a source for my previous suggestion to the charity section. A possible updated phrase is: His painting "Blue eyes sapphirus falco columbarius" has been sold for over ZAR8.2 million (ca. US$420,000) during Art Basel in Switzerland.
 * Lead section: I also suggest summarising the above claim and adding it as a fourth sentence to the lead section as follows: His paintings have sold for over 400,000 US$.

—-41.13.104.210 (talk) 12:24, 6 October 2023 (UTC)

Thank you for the precise recommended changes. I have declined to make them as explained below, but would encourage amended proposals and comment from other watchers of this page. Dorsetonian (talk) 15:24, 6 October 2023 (UTC)
 * The overall tone of these proposals is promotional.
 * Personal life section - unencyclopaedic, and not an independent source (it is the artist's own bio and an interview).
 * Charity section - promotional in tone.
 * Artwork section and lead section - the work in question was a collaborative piece, so the proposed text is somewhat misleading. Dorsetonian (talk) 15:24, 6 October 2023 (UTC)


 * Hello User:Dorsetonian, thank you for your feedback. In understand that the update to the personal life section needs better sourcing. Now regarding the proposed text for the charity and artwork sections, I would like to suggest a summarisation. Mccreedy collaborated with jewellery designer Syz to create the "Blue eyes sapphirus falco columbarius" painting; this painting was sold for ZAR8.2 million, and about 10 per cent of that sum was donated. I think this has been covered sufficiently by the sources that I have already cited. This could be all combined in the artwork section, for example, like so:
 * In 2023, Mccreedy collaborated with Swiss jewellery designer Suzanne Syz to make a 170 carat blue sapphire brooche that was incorporated into Mccreedy’s painting "Blue eyes sapphirus falco columbarius". The painting sold for ZAR8.2 million (ca. US$420,000) during Art Basel in Switzerland. Approximately ten per cent (ZAR800,000; US$40,000) of that sum were donated to Africamission's Drops of Life Campaign.
 * What do you think about that? Would that be possible?
 * Done. I put it into the "charity" section because the final sentence would be out of place anywhere else. It might be better to split the text so that the remainder of it was in the Artwork section as proposed; now you can see it as it is, let me know if you want that change to be made (or wish to propose an alternative). Dorsetonian (talk) 09:21, 13 October 2023 (UTC)
 * --41.13.114.135 (talk) 12:02, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
 * --41.13.114.135 (talk) 12:02, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

Hello User:Dorsetonian, thank you very much for implementing my request, It looks good. Do you think it would be possible to also update the lead section with an additional sentence referring to the recent sale of his paining, and another sentence explaining his Mccreedyblue colour?


 * Conor Matthew Mccreedy (born 1987) is a contemporary artist, conservationist and collector based in Switzerland.  In his work, his depiction of abstraction is linked to chaos theory. The colour blue is prominent in his works, which he trademarked as "Mccreedyblue". Mccreedy's paintings have sold for sums up to US$420,000.

In case that doesn't work, what about this alternative option?


 * Conor Matthew Mccreedy (born 1987) is a contemporary artist, conservationist and collector based in Switzerland.  In his work, his depiction of abstraction is linked to chaos theory. The colour blue is prominent in his works, which he trademarked as "Mccreedyblue". One of Mccreedy's paintings sold for US$420,000 during Art Basel 2023.

--41.13.114.97 (talk) 12:51, 13 October 2023 (UTC)


 * I do not think sale price belongs in the lead. In any case, I certainly do not think that sale price should go anywhere without the qualification that it was a joint work. The trademarking of the colour is not referenced, and does not seem to me to be of encyclopaedic value - it would need its notability established by a reliable third-party source that considered it important enough to mention. In addition, it would need to go somewhere other than the lead because the lead summarises the following content. If you disagree with my response, feel free to reopen the request to elicit a second opinion Dorsetonian (talk) 17:52, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

Edit Request 10 November 2023
41.13.108.108 (talk) 08:27, 10 November 2023 (UTC)

I'm kindly requesting the following changes to the article:


 * Career section: Remove "In 2013 he was a part of a group show at the Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg. " The text is supported by an editorial, which is not an acceptable source in a BLP article.


 * Career section: Add "In 2023, Mccreedy collaborated with Swiss speaker manufacturer Piega to create a work of art from their MLS2s speakers. "

41.13.108.108 (talk) 08:27, 10 November 2023 (UTC)
 * The claim regarding the Everard festival was omitted, as it was referenced by an editorial. The claim regarding the Swiss speaker manufacturer was not added because it too was based on an editorial written by Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, who "selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter." Regards, Spintendo  11:04, 11 November 2023 (UTC)