Mark Kostabi’s Lame Paintings are Rad
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Is it cool to like Mark Kostabi‘s work or not? I mean, the man and his work don’t exactly command respect– his paintings are bland enough to adorn any office building wall or Reader’s Digest article, and while once upon a time, he created Guns ‘N Roses and Ramones album covers, he now proudly boasts about the commemorative statue the Vatican commissioned him to make of Pope Benedict. Browsing through his defunct advice column for ArtNet, it’s telling to watch Kostabi’s defend himself against accusations of flagrant greed and tacky self-aggrandizement by noting:
Many of history’s greatest artists had abundant self-confidence: Picasso, Caravaggio, Dalí. Just because some artists are politically correct by being selfless and humble, doesn’t mean I’m going to think they’re better than Caravaggio.
So obviously this guy kinda sucks, generally. I mean, while Damien Hirst probably feels the same way, he at least does us the favor of not bragging about being a self-involved bourgeois asshole who thinks of himself on par with Caravaggio. Divorced of Kostabi’s lame personality, I can’t tell if I simply enjoy his paintings for their weird/funny outmoded ClipArt aesthetic, or if I’m genuinely enchanted by the stupid spectral beauty of a faceless figure serenading a Hammerhead shark on an underwater piano. I guess it really doesn’t matter. These paintings are kinda rad.
clip art is pretty awesome
this man is no clip art.
its making objects float in the hallways that gets my goat the moast
My favorite self-aggrandizing line from the aughts:
“Dear Mr. Toilet, I’m the shit!” ~Lil’ Wayne