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Saturday Film Pick: Con Artist
Saturday, November 13, 6:45 PM
In the art world, there are no shortage of opinions on Mark Kostabi, and several of them are shared with relish in Michael Sládek's comedic documentary portrait Con Artist. Snaps one insider, "I've never heard anything good about him." Another likens his work to Applebee's, then corrects himself: "Applebee's aspiring to be Olive Garden."
To be sure, art purists have plenty of reasons to loathe him. Early in the film, he introduces some of his pieces with the admission, "I made these paintings with some help." We soon learn he means nothing but help. Despite his own inarguable talent, Kostabi made his name by taking his mentor Andy Warhol's concept of the Factory and running with it, employing scores of artists to create the paintings he merely signs. Far from keeping his method a secret, he has installed a peeping booth in his gallery where visitors can watch his employees at work, and he hosts a game show, Title This!, challenging participants to name "his" works. "Modern art is a con," he has said, "and I am the world's greatest con artist."
The proof? His art sells, even to collectors whom he berates for buying what he assures them in no uncertain terms will depreciate rapidly. Indeed, in 2007, Kostabi was even commissioned by the Vatican to make a sculpture that Pope Benedict XVI himself blessed upon its completion. This provocative documentary gives its audience fresh reason to ponder the age-old question: what is art?
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