{"id":15356,"date":"2025-10-22T08:57:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T08:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/15356\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T08:57:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T08:57:20","slug":"disgraced-miami-art-dealer-tries-his-hand-at-selling-labubus-or-are-they-lafufus-the-art-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/15356\/","title":{"rendered":"Disgraced Miami art dealer tries his hand at selling Labubus\u2014or are they ‘Lafufus’? – The Art Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The disgraced Miami art dealer Les Roberts appears to be back in business with a new hustle\u2014selling Labubus. In April, Roberts\u2019s Miami Fine Art Gallery was raided by the FBI<\/a> 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<\/a>, Roberts is now running a shop called Labubu Headquarters<\/a> in Miami\u2019s Coconut Grove neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

At the store this past weekend, preteens and university students alike stopped in their tracks as soon as they spotted a large Labubu\u2014priced at $1,000\u2014inside. 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<\/a> in Switzerland this summer.) At Roberts\u2019s shop, the creatures start at an accessible $35.<\/p>\n

Roberts\u2019s bond conditions<\/a> restrict him from selling art or working in the art industry, which begs the question: could these plush collectibles be considered \u201cart\u201d? After all, in June a giant Labubu sold for more than $170,000<\/a> at the first \u201cLabubu art auction\u201d, hosted by Yongle Auction in China. The event drew almost 1,000 bidders. And the critic Arthur Danto\u2014who spent a lot of time in his book The Transfiguration of the Commonplace (1981) asking what is and is not art\u2014concluded that Brillo boxes, silence, Coca-Cola bottles, performances and stillness could all be art. So, decades later, why not Labubus?<\/p>\n

Miami New Times staff spent considerable time consulting with experts to ensure that a Labubu a reporter bought from Roberts\u2019s store was real and not a fake, or “Lafufu”. The results of their research were inconclusive.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Pop Mart, the primary official seller of Labubus, told the Miami New Times that Roberts\u2019s shop was not associated with the Chinese retailer. \u201cWe advise fans of Labubu and the Monsters to purchase only through Pop Mart\u2019s official sales channels and approved partner,\u201d the spokesperson said. Roberts\u2019s attorney did not reply to The Art Newspaper’s request for comment.<\/p>\n