Totally. It’s a direct steal of Rolf’s style, only wankier.
Yikes, that put me right over the edge.
Overall though, I don’t think he’s doing any harm and some people seem genuinely moved by his performances and I’m always a fan of a good work ethic and it seems like he has one. I think he works hard to put on a show that the people who go to his shows will enjoy. If his web site (I was so mesmerized by the video – not exactly by his work, but rather by the … earnestness of it, that I went to his web site) is accurate, he seems to bring in the cash with corporate-type events while setting aside some time to do charity performances.
Especially when the song starts with “If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d worked for all my life”. So he didn’t work for freedom, justice, etc. all his life? Why not?
Back on topic, I have to wonder if there are pencil markings or some other subtle indicator of the outlines on the canvas before he starts. It wouldn’t be too hard, especially on a black canvas, to mark it in a way that’s only visible close-up. Then, all he has to do is fill in the outlines.
The man obviously has talent and his ultimate intent is virtuous, but he’s just such a showboater.
“My shirt’s chafing me.” -Jimbo Jones
Was he the guy who was on another youtube video? I think he painted some black guy. Not sure if he was meant to be someone. But it was more of an exciting reveal when he finally finished.
This was hokey but more importantly, it wasn’t that shocking at the end when you saw the final painting.
The music was cheesy assed trash, and the moment he threw the paintbrushes theatrically to the side I thought “pretentious wanker.” The finished painting looked lame, uninspired, trite, and the little girl looked absolutely hideous.
Pompous, hackneyed, lowbrow trash.
You could well be right. He only seems to ‘slap’ on paint in places where there is a lot of room for the color, and then he goes back and fills in the edges precisely. Not that there’s anything wrong with coloring inside the lines, but I suppose it might take some of the thrill away if you otherwise assumed he was starting with a blank canvas.
Also several of the other paintings on his website are based on well-known photographs, with the same proportions which seems like it would be very difficult to do freehand and without reference, but maybe you artists can comment on that.
Back home, we call this an overcooked ham.
You want an amazing performance artist? Check out the sand murals of Dato Khujadze or Ferenc Cako. They actually try to take you on a journey, instead of cramming a hackneyed message down your throat with an over-the-top showboat performance set to pop music. There are quite a few of these “sand stories” online if you look around for them, and the one by Cako, when combined with that music, actually brings a tear to my eye when I watch. Not sure why, it’s just has a truly heartfelt quality about it. They’re infinitely more imaginative and poignant than this Michael Israel gayness. I’m sorry, but this guy’s not an artist, he’s a romance novel model trying to be a unique performance artist. He paints fire fighters and poses for photos with primary colors of paint dripping all over his muscled body? Maybe he’s an aspiring gay porn star … don’t they all usually cut their teeth in modelling?
If I know my Dope — and having been here for hell I don’t know, forever — the problem with the painting is the subject and the music. It is my opinion that some viewpoints are colored by hand-wringing guilt over things like being proud of American or white or Indian culture and achievements as though to celebrate one success is to disrespect another. I am probably the least “patriotic” Doper on the board, but the reason I’m not rah-rah about America is because its government treads on the liberty of its citizens. But I don’t have to be pissed off that Joe Blow waves a flag when he hears a song that only makes me long for a Jeffersonian ideal. I’m no more put off by one man’s patriotism than I am by another man’s homosexuality. I think some people won’t be satisfied until America is France. Except that France has had its fill of bullshit socialism, and is ridding itself of it.
There’s patriotism, and there’s :rolleyes: PATRIOTISM
I don’t know, though. I personally have a bigger problem with the over-doing of something that would have been, in my opinion, a more striking image if left at the silhouette level. Sometimes doing things minimally or subtly is a much more powerful statement than blasting with color or patriotic music.
Of course it’s a show, but I just thought the leaping and jumping around was most often completely pointless - he’d jump up and smash a blob of colour into some area out of reach, then spin the canvas and paint that whole area solid with the same colour. And throwing the paintbrushes away, then picking up another pair the same size to paint with the same colour. Why?
I thought I’d seen him do better, but it turns out it was a different artist:
Maybe for some people. For others, who enjoy both performance and visual art, and watched it on mute, it could just be that he blows.
I agree - I watched it on mute. I’m not a great admirer of the concept of patriotism, and I’m not American, but I don’t think that’s why I disliked it - if that were the case, I think I’d also dislike the Liberty painting I linked above (which I happen to think is rather good).
I think I just didn’t like this one because it’s not terribly well executed, and the all the posturing seems to be done for no reason other than posturing.
That’s not it at all, Lib. I hate it when people put forth that kind of argument.
You’re assuming that everything exists at the level of our ego-identity, and that the rejection of a ham-handed, blatantly sentimental symbol presented with superfluous flourishes (as though his work represented some kind of superhuman effort) means we’ve rejected our identities. You’re wrong. There’s absolutely no carryover.
Lib, I swear that is not the case for me. I am a flag-waving sort (literally…we have a flag flying on our house every day). I watched it without the sound, so I didn’t get a cue from that (I don’t hate that Lee Greenwood song…it’s too glurgy for my personal style, but I think the sentiment is OK).
And, seriously, I think that thing looks like a 10 year old did it. And not necessarily a particularly talented one. I think that as a slapped-together painting, it was OK when it was just a silhouette, but I think that with a little practice, most people could have done it. I really do. The strokes were so broad and imprecise that you could probably draw a light outline on the canvas, and your average person could use large paintbrushes like he did to fill them in.
And the faces…OMG. You see better than that at the “starving artist” painting sales: $50 for a large oil painting.
I don’t even know what to say about the “performance art” part of it. Anyone can put paint on a brush and spray it around, too.
I don’t get it. I really really don’t.
ETA: I see Chronos had the same thought as I did about the outlines. It kind of makes me wonder if that’s how the guy does it.
Okely dokely. 
Do you mean this guy? I was actually going to post this anyway, because I think he’s much better than the other painter. And, “black guy” = Ray Charles.
Another vote that he should have left it as the silhouette.