[UPDATE BELOW] A not totally unsurprising rumor is going around that downtown artist Dash Snow has died of a heroin overdose. Snow is the maternal grandson of Robert Thurman (and nephew of actress Uma Thurman), and his lifestyle was well-documented in a sprawling New York magazine piece two years ago. That lifestyle at one point included making what he called a Hamster’s Nest with friends, where they would "shred up 30 to 50 phone books, yank around all the blankets and drapes, turn on the taps, take off their clothes, and do drugs—mushrooms, coke, ecstasy—until they feel like hamsters."
Snow's work was exhibited at galleries like The Royal Academy in London, the Whitney, Deitch Projects and Saatchi Gallery (here are some selected works from the latter).
Gawker says they heard the news of the 27-year-old's death this morning from multiple sources. One of Dash's best friends, artist Earsnot/Kunle Irak, posted on his Twitter earlier: "YOU HAD TO INJECT HEROIN RIGHT? YOU COULDN'T JUST... :( DUDE! I FUCKING HATE YOU. YOU ARE THE WORST GUY EVER! FUCK YOU! FUCKING TURD! Dude." And another artist friend, CLAW, has been posting about the sad news as well. There has been no official comment released yet to confirm the rumor, but it's certainly spreading all over the place.
UPDATE:Blogue has now posted a visual tribute to the artist, confirming his death. And The NY Times reports that he died at the "Lafayette House, a hotel in Lower Manhattan. His death was confirmed by his grandmother, the art collector and philanthropist Christophe de Menil, who said that Mr. Snow had died of a drug overdose." She noted "that he had been in rehabilitation in March and had been off drugs until very recently."
