Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Arts & crap

Ah, a story for the season: Thomas Kinkade, the master of the Syrup School of Art Product, appears to have problems that slapping a coat of yellow paint on a canvas & “publishing” it won’t solve.

I know it’s mean-spirited to poke fun at someone when he’s down; but Kinkade—honestly, someone who panders to the, well, the tasteless en masse… I mean, if his little (or perhaps not so little) empire isn’t the triumph of marketing over substance, I don’t know what is.

I first saw his oeuvre in 2001, when I got back from three years overseas. The extent of his kitschiness just knocked me out. His paintings are as unartistic as you can get without having poker-playing dogs as your subjects or using black velvet as your canvas.

& then I saw the merchandise. Gawd.

At least we the taxpayers haven’t yet been called upon to bail his company out of bankruptcy. Although I suppose it’s not beyond the realm of possibility.

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