About Greg
This article was published in The New York Sentry on Saturday 3rd December 2005:
The Mississippi Billionaire who defies all expectations.
Alaska Kennedy meets Greg Goode, the man behind Ignis Oil and the Vitruvius Art Factory.
Although Greg Goode is not a household name, you’ll recognize his businesses immediately. Ignis oil fuels 18% of American home’s. While the Vitruvius Art Factory, which only celebrated its tenth birthday this Summer, is arguably the largest global art Empire since Warhol.
Greg Goode has impeccable credentials, but he certainly does not crave celebrity. Despite numerous offers his face doesn’t fill our television screens every night of the week. He’s not on reality business show panels. In fact he was even reluctant to have his photo taken for this feature, and only agreed after a little gentle cajoling from his wife, Victoria. But then, as I soon discovered, nothing about Greg Goode is what you’d expect.
I’ve worked for the Sentry for eleven years and during that time I’ve interviewed a lot of very successful people. They usually have one thing in common – the ruthless streak. As soon as Greg opened the door of his fifth avenue apartment I thought I spotted its absence. He’s tall, over six feet, with candid, almost dreamy brown eyes and a shock of curly grey hair. Wearing green cords and grey pullover, he looks like any regular guy in his early fifties. Could his looks really be that deceptive?
Since the mid nineties, the Vitruvius Art Factory has set a new precedent in the art world. By finding, nurturing and coaching young talent it subsumes artists under the Vitruvius brand. Producing controversial high art, which pushes boundaries, it promotes Vitruvius on a phenomenal scale. Of course, there are antecedents for this trend, like British artist Damien Hurst, but Vitruvius takes matters one-step further. It’s the controversial Vitruvius name, which is the selling point – not the identity of the conceptual artist.
